‘Our money for our schools’ campaign in the offing

Hyderabad: Attention politicians! Sermonising about majority-minority dynamics and secularism are thing of the past. It’s time for action. Jain, Buddhist, Sikh, and Hindu voters are going to have fun. Hindu organisations are considering launching campaigns to press State governments to open Bharatiya Shiksha Board (BSB) schools using Hindu Religious and Endowment funds, making them accessible to students from Indic religious traditions. This suggests a need for politicians to address the educational concerns of these groups.

Speaking to The Hans India, Dr Ravinuthala Shashidhar of Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Telangana, said, “It is in the conceptual stage of figuring out how to take it forward. It is only a matter of time that the issue for the opening of BSB schools would be pursued in all its seriousness,” he adds.

Giving reasons for conceptualizing the idea, for a long, learning and teaching of Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) have been shunned at all levels and with the active indulgence of successive governments. It's painted with religious colour to ensure people have weaned off pursuing them in the mainstream teaching and learning institutions. But now the Centre had notified forming the BSB. The syllabus includes languages, English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Sciences as main subjects. Besides, the skill-oriented areas comprise 21st-century skills like web designing, mobile application, machine learning, artificial intelligence, agribusiness, coding, agriculture technology, entrepreneurship development, tourism and hospitality management, journalism and mass communications, banking and insurance and retail management at +2 level.

In addition, students can study their mother tongue in Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Sindhi, Telugu and Urdu. Are temples under Hindu Endowments hesitant to start schools affiliated with the Bharatiya Sikha Board?

The All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has already issued a circular to all the universities informing the certificates awarded by the BSB are considered equivalent to their counterparts for admissions.

Against this backdrop, “We are going to demand the State governments to extend grants and aid by opening the BSB schools affiliated with the BSB with the endowment funds. Firstly, the promotion of the culture and heritage of the country is the constitutional responsibility of the government. Secondly, the State government need not spend from its exchequer. It has to meet the funds belonging to the Hindus from their temple and other religious endowment revenues. To build these schools and colleges on the Hindu religious endowment lands. Thus, it will not put any financial burden on the government. Further, “We are not concerned about the party. Be it BRS, Congress, BJP, DMK, YSRCP, TDP, CPM, CPI or, for that matter, any other. The campaign will be “Our money, for Our schools,” he added.