Delhi schools will soon introduce a new course called Rashtraneeti (statecraft), which will offer practical knowledge of governance, democracy, and policymaking, the government said in its budget.
The term 'rashtraneeti' was used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February 2024 during the Lok Sabha polls campaign.
Criticising the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, Modi had said that his government could have brought out a white paper on the economy in 2014 but chose rashtraneeti over rajneeti (statecraft over politics) to avoid shaking the country’s confidence.
While the BJP government in Delhi may have taken cue from Modi’s rashtraneeti, there have been several changes in the country’s shikshaneeti (education policy) under the ruling dispensation.
Earlier, in 2014, BJP-ruled states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh had decided to include Modi's story in curriculum.
School textbooks have undergone revisions in recent years, with references to true events like the Gujarat riots and the Babri Masjid demolition either altered or removed.
In June 2024, NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani defended these changes, saying, “Teaching about riots can create violent and depressed citizens,” reported The Hindu. He insisted that the modifications were part of the annual revision process and should not be sensationalised.
According to multiple reports including in the Hindustan Times, in April, 2023, class 12 history textbook Themes of Indian History-Part III edited out references to Nathuram Godse and Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.
Then the most controversial change when two entire pages on the 2002 Gujarat riots were deleted from the Class 12 political science textbook, reported multiple reports including one in NDTV.
According to multiple reports including in India Today, the Class 7 history textbook, Our Pasts-II, no longer includes a two-page chart detailing the achievements of emperors such as Humayun, Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb.
The debate over the saffronisation of education extends beyond textbooks.
In Karnataka, a ban on religious symbols in classrooms, widely seen as the hijab ban, sparked nationwide protests. The controversy began with a government order in February 2022 directing government schools to enforce uniform policies. Muslim female students in hijabs were barred from attending classes, leading many to miss exams or drop out altogether, reported multiple reports including one in Indian Express.
The Modi government's attempts at what it calls revamping the education system has met with political opposition; the language row sparked by the New Education Policy is a good example.
Besides Rashtraneeti, Delhi schools will now include Science of Living that will teach students from kindergarten to Class 10 different forms of meditation, including yoga, mindfulness, and stretching exercises.
An official from the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) said that the course will also cover elderly care and self-help practices, aiming to equip students with skills beyond academics.
The official added that the education department is working on courses focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI). “As technology continues to evolve, the need to upgrade skills has become essential. To meet this demand, we are working on new courses and activities that will help students stay ahead in the tech-driven world,” he said.
