On behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India, Padma Bhushan award recipient, Olympic medalist and five-time undisputed world boxing champion Mangte Chungneijang Mary Kom has appealed to Uttar Pradesh government to incorporate PETA's humane- education programme in the school curriculam.
In a letter written to UP Education Minister, Mary Kom has asked the governemnt that PETA's humane-education programme, Compassionate Citizen, be incorporated into the official curriculum of schools in the region for children ages 8 to 12.In the letter, Kom points out that violence against animals by children is often an early sign of future acts of violence against humans.
Kom has written similar letters to other state and union territory education ministers in the country, a PETA press statement said here on Thursday.'One of the best ways to knock out cruelty to animals is to teach compassion to young people', Kom writes. 'Animals need us in their concern. With violence seemingly all around us, it is more important than ever that we teach lessons of respect and kindness in the classroom.'
Compassionate citizen has been voluntarily used in more than 15,000 private and government schools and has reached more than 3 million children across India. Recently, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) issued a notification to CBSE schoolsasking them to use it as an official part of their curriculum.