Brahma Kumaris to take value education classes in Kendriya Vidyalayas

There is no dispute over inclusion of value education in school curriculum but when that is outsourced to a religious or spiritual organisation...

There is no dispute over inclusion of value education in school curriculum but when that is outsourced to a religious or spiritual organisation,it is bound to raise eyebrows.

The Central government-run Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS),which presides over a chain of thousand-plus schools,has done just that by directing all its schools to allow the nearest Brahma Kumari Academy to hold a weekly class on Peace Education.

In a letter to all its regional offices,the KVS has said each school must contact the nearest Brahma Kumari Academy so that representative can take one period in a week in classes VII,VIII & IX in KVs free of cost.

Kendriya Vidyalayas across the country have quickly followed the directive,touching base with the nearest Brahma Kumari centre. The Brahma Kumaris too have lost no time in contacting the nearest KVs.

The Brahma Kumari organisation describes itself as a socio-spiritual and educational institution of international repute with over 8,000 centres in 132 countries and committed to the cause of moral and spiritual uplift of mankind.

The KVS maintains that they have tied up with the Brahma Kumaris for value education lessons and also ensured that the content on offer is going to be completely secular.

This is not a religious programme. We have thoroughly checked the training module which will be used in the classes and it has no religious element at all. It is centred on core human values and is a simple awareness programme. All due precautions have been taken before allowing the Brahma Kumari Academy to hold lessons in our schools. They had done a workshop for our primary school teachers last year and that is when the proposal for this school programme came up, M M Joshi,Deputy Commissioner (Academics),KVS,told The Indian Express.

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Confirming that all KVs were directed in January to contact Brahma Kumari academies,Joshi said the organisation was being engaged because they were doing it free of cost and had presence across India.

Brahma Kumari Karuna,the public relations officer for the organisation,also said that the arrangement with KVs was secular in nature.

We are helping with value education lessons in KVs. We have already conducted these in some 29 schools. KVS officially permitted us earlier this year after they liked our programme. Brahma Kumari is not a religion,we are for the secular and call ourselves a spiritual organisation teaching values. Our aim is to teach children values like respecting elders so that these values can take root and they become better citizens. Education today is purely professional,without ethics. For better ethics,we need spirituality,so we are trying to teach values in schools, Karuna said.