Vidya Bharati
| Formation | 1977 |
|---|---|
| Legal status | Active |
| Purpose | Educational Institution |
Region | India |
| Website | vidyabharti |
Vidya Bharati is a non government educational organization in India which runs one of the largest private network of schools in India. It is the educational wing of RSS.
History
Nanaji Deshmukh started a Saraswati Shishu Mandir (temple of the pupils of Saraswati) in 1952. In 1977, these were put under an umbrella organisation called Vidya Bharati with its headquarter in Delhi.[1]
About
It runs one of the largest private network of schools in India. As of March 2002, it had 17,396 schools, 2.2 million students, over 93,000 teachers, 15 teacher training colleges, 12 degree colleges and 7 vocational and training institutions.[2] Most of the Vidya Bharati schools are affiliated to the Central Board for Secondary Education or their local State Boards.[3] Vidya Bharati run educational programs were adopted in Madhya Pradesh as an alternate model of education when BJP was in power.[4]
In 1998 at a conference of State education ministers Vidya Bharati made proposals for school education to be "Indianized, nationalized and spiritualized", with the teaching of "the essentials of Indian culture" which was perceived as "Hindu education". There were concerns when the Uttar Pradesh Government made it mandatory to start the school day with Vande Mataram and Saraswati Vandana and the Muslim League forbade Muslim schoolchildren from joining in the worship. It also demands that Sanskrit be taught in all schools and sponsors the revision of textbooks which give a Hindu outlook of history and use Hindu examples in comprehension exercises.[5]
Dinanath Batra, former General Secretary of Vidya Bharati, said that they were fighting an "ideological battle against Macaulay, Marx and Madrasawadis". In comparison to which Vidya Bharati advocates "Indianization, nationalization and spiritualization" of education. [6] In the areas of study that are peripheral to the core curriculum, like physical education, music and cultural the institution worked out its own curriculum.[7]
Ideology and Objectives
The organization believes that a large population in India do not have access to education and so its focus is villages under-privileged locality and tribal area. They encourage economic self-reliance, good health, and hygiene. It says that that all round development of a child has to be achieved through education and inculcation of time honored traditions.[8]
The organization believes that system of education in India has its roots in Western way of fulfillment of life and that the all-round development of the personality of the child is not possible without spiritual development. They aim to develop the students physically, mentally and spiritually, and make them capable of facing challenges of daily life and thus contribute to nation building.[9]
See also
References
- ^ Jaffrelot, Christophe (2007). Hindu nationalism a reader (in Czech). Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. p. 269. ISBN 0-691-13097-3.
- ^ Ewing, E (2005). Revolution and pedagogy interdisciplinary and transnational perspectives on educational foundations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 196. ISBN 978-1-4039-8013-7.
- ^ Ewing, E (2005). Revolution and pedagogy interdisciplinary and transnational perspectives on educational foundations. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 208. ISBN 978-1-4039-8013-7.
- ^ Malik, Yogendra (1994). Hindu nationalists in India : the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Boulder: Westview Press. p. 157. ISBN 0-8133-8810-4.
- ^ Smith, Pamela (2000). India : globalization and change. London New York: Arnold Oxford University Press. p. 132. ISBN 0-340-70579-5.
- ^ Chandavarkar, Rajnarayan (2009). History, culture and the Indian city : essays. Cambridge, UK New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-521-76871-9.
- ^ Marty, Martin (1993). Fundamentalisms and society : reclaiming the sciences, the family, and education. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 552. ISBN 0-226-50880-3.
- ^ "Vidya Bharati, India Vidya Bhararti Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha Sansthan Educational Belief". Retrieved 13 September 2014.
- ^ "Vidya Bhararti Akhil Bhartiya Shiksha Sansthan Philosophy, Aim and Objectives". Retrieved 13 September 2014.