Educationists have raised objections about religious chanting in the ‘Pratibha Karanji’ competition for school children.
In his letter to Madhu Bangarappa, Minister for the Department of School Education and Literacy, Niranjanaradhya. V.P., a developmental educationist has questioned the necessity and propriety of religious chanting in government schools, which are secular centres.
The DSEL has ordered to conduct the Pratibha Karanji competition in school, cluster, taluk and district level between August and November and to recite Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit and Sur-E-Fateh in Arabic language.
“Earlier, the BJP government had enforced this religious chanting in the Pratibha Karanji competition. But, the people of Karnataka rejected the BJP government that tried to turn secular institutions such as government schools into centres of religious chanting through religion and communalism on an unscientific basis. Now a secular, democratic and constitutional government has come to power. However, it is worrying that the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) is continuing the unscientific communal policies of the previous government in the field of school education,” he said in the letter.
He also question the purpose of organizing a religious recitation competition in Sanskrit and Arabic to test the talent of primary school children in the State instead of Kannada.
