--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "bmscotttg" <bm.brian@...> wrote:
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "shivkhokra" <shivkhokra@> wrote:
> >
> > http://www.education.nic.in/secedu.asp
> >
> > Some excerpts on what Govt of India says on the curricula:
>
> > "Teaching of three languages - English, Hindi & Sanskrit from
> > Class VI to VIII is compulsory. In Classes IX and X, any two
> > languages out of English, Hindi and Sanskrit can be offered.
> > Sanskrit can also be taken as an elective subject at +2 stage".
>
> Shivraj is being less than honest. This refers specifically and
> only to the Kendriya Vidyalayas (Central Schools). These were
> established primarily to 'provide uninterrupted education to the
> wards of transferable Central Government employees'; the first
> point in their four-part mission statement is 'to cater to the
> educational needs of children of transferable Central Government
> employees including Defence and Para-military personnel by
> providing a common programme of education'.
What Shivraj had written, and which raised my objection, is "everyone in India does [Sanskrit] at least upto class 8th." And now he repeats this statement: "Teaching of Sanskrit has been made compulsory by
the govt of India."
This is, of course, false. Can you figure out all those tens of millions of Tamil, or Oriya, or "tribal" (Tibeto-Burman, Munda, Dravidian, etc.) speakers, who are just children from 10 to 13 years old, being forced to learn Sanskrit at school against their or their parents' will?
So how can it be true that EVERYONE in India studies Sanskrit at school at least upto class 8th?
Regarding the Kendriya Vidyalayas (Central Schools), Brian is right:
http://www.tamiltribune.com/00/0702.html
"In October 1998 the Indian Government mooted the idea of making Sanskrit a compulsory subject in schools. It could not, however, push through this proposal because the majority of schools are under state jurisdiction and there is not much enthusiasm to it in most states. Indian Government is already making efforts to take partial control of schools through Central Schools (Kendriya Vidhyalaya, as they call it) and the Central Board of Secondary Education (they both bypasses state government jurisdiction) and is also attempting to take charge of primary schools in some under-developed areas. Hindi is already compulsory in these schools and compulsory learning of Sanskrit will be introduced slowly."
Francesco