Govt factchecks Times of India, says NIOS not taking Gita, Ramayana to madrassas

By Asianet Newsable English | First Published Mar 3, 2021, 2:59 PM IST

The education ministry believes that the Times of India news report has distorted facts, misrepresented truth and seems to be of malicious intent.

The Union Education Ministry has pulled up the Times of India over a report about the National Institute of Open Schooling which the government claimed misrepresented facts.

The Times of India report titled 'NIOS to take Gita, Ramayan to madrassas' stated that the National Institute of Open Schooling will introduce its new curriculum on ancient Indian knowledge and heritage at 100 madrassas as part of the National Education Policy.

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The report said that 'NIOS has prepared 15 courses on the Bharatiya Jnana Parampara (Indian knowledge tradition) that includes Veda, yoga, science, vocational skills, Sanskrit language, Ramayan epic narratives, Bhagavad Gita teachings and the Panini-propounded Maheshwara Sutras, among others. These courses are equivalent to classes 3, 5 and 8 of elementary education'.

The education ministry, however, believes that news report has distorted facts, misrepresented truth and seems to be of malicious intent.

In a clarification, the education ministry said that the NIOS accredits madrassas under the special provision for quality education of madrassas.

"Various subjects are offered to learners under this provision without any hard-line boundaries of fixed-subject combinations unlike that in the formal education system. It is totally the discretion of the learner to opt for subject combination from the bouquet of the subjects provided by NIOS," the ministry said.

The ministry also clarified that there are around 100 madrassas with 50,000 students are accredited with NIOS.

There are also plans to accredit around 500 more madrassas with the NIOS in the future.

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