RSS leaders and representatives of the Sangh-affiliated educational bodies held in-depth discussions with Union Human Resource Minister Smriti Irani and sought her ministry to introduce “skill-development” and “employment oriented courses” in the country’s educational framework.
The senior RSS leaders and the Sangh-inspired outfits deliberated at length for about “three to four hours” and with the former asking the Minister to orient education in a way which facilitate jobs and makes country “self-reliant”. The representatives of the Sangh-inspired educational institutions like Vidya Bharti, Bhartiya Siksha Mandal, Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad and Akhil Bhartiya Shaikshik Mahasangh (All India teachers union) and others meet the Union Minister along with RSS leaders Suresh Soni, Krishna Gopal and Dattatreya Hosabale.
The BJP General Secretary Jagat Prakash Nadda was also present in the meeting which was held here at the MP Bhawan.It was agreed that the Ministry would find ways to initiate new courses at the school level which provide stress to “skill development”.The consultations to further “evolve” the education system ,make it more dynamic and in tune with the changing times would continue , sources said.
Both sides agreed with the view that education should make students “self-reliant” and thereby their country too.Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put excessive stress on developing skills “and promoting vocational training on a massive scale”.“We will promote vocational training on a massive scale. Rigid segregation of formal education and skill development will be broken , a mechanism will be established to give vocational qualifications of Academic Equivalence”, States BJP’s Election Manifesto in a sub-section titled ‘Skills-Focusing on Productivity and Employability’.
Thursday’s meeting sought to make change first at the School level and have courses which make students “employable” at a later stage which could include “soft skills”.According to sources, the discussions also touched on “moral education”, inculcating discipline, self-restraint along with academic knowledge.
This is not the first interaction between the RSS leaders and the HDR Minister and the exchange of ideas is to be more regular between the Government and Sangh affiliated bodies “to take up skill development in education on a mission mode”, something BJP is also committed to in its Manifesto.
RSS affiliate- Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti’s founder Dinanath Batra, had called for changes in the educational curriculum to better reflect Indian values. Gujarat has already made Batra’s books compulsory in schools, leading to criticism in a section of academic and educational experts, representing the other side of the spectrum.