Uttarakhand tasks NCERT with including Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana in school syllabus: State Education Minister

Uttarakhand Education Minister Dhan Singh Rawat on Wednesday said that the state government has asked the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to include the Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayana in the syllabus of 17,000 government schools.

"In a meeting of the Education department with the Chief Minister, we have tasked NCERT to include Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana in the syllabus to be taught in 17,000 government schools of Uttarakhand," Rawat told ANI. He added that until the new syllabus is introduced, students will recite verses from these texts during daily prayer sessions."

Earlier on July 15, NCERT released a new textbook titled Veena, which has been developed in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The book aims to connect students with India's scientific achievements as well as its civilisational heritage. One of the chapters, Ganga ki Kahani, follows the journey of the Ganga from Gomukh to Gangasagar, covering cities such as Haridwar, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Patna, Kanpur, and Kolkata.

Another chapter, AI, introduces students to Artificial Intelligence, explaining how machines learn and solve problems like humans. It aims to encourage scientific thinking in middle school students. NCERT has started rolling out the updated textbooks for several classes. While some books have already been released, others are expected by the end of the year.