Uttarakhand has become the first state in India to initiate the Bal Vatika scheme as part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. As a part of this framework, Pre-primary classes in Uttarakhand will now be known as Bal Vatikas. Students will be taught the Vedas and the Puranas in Sanskrit, alongside other parts of the curriculum.
The Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami inaugurated the Bal Vatika Classes at the Directorate of Secondary Education, Nanurkheda. The CM also inaugurated the Directorate of Elementary Education building at the same event and thereafter laid the foundation stone of the SCERT building.
The innovative new syllabus for the Bal Vatikas has been prepared by the SCERT and in the present stage the classes will be conducted across five thousand Anganwadi centres in Uttarakhand.
With Uttrakhand implementing the scheme in its schools, it can be hoped that going forward the system can be implemented across more anganwadi centres across the country.