Edu Ministry clarifies stand against 'Times of India' for sharing distorted facts
03 Mar 2021 16:29:07
New Delhi, Mar 3: The Times of India had published a news about the NEP and the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) titled 'NIOS to take Gita, Ramayana to Madarassas,' which failed to testify factual support. Thus, the Ministry of Education has issued a release stating the administrative stand against TOI's fact less news. According to the Times' news, the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) will introduce its new curriculum on ancient Indian knowledge and heritage at 100 madarassas as part of the National Education Policy (NEP).
The Ministry, in it's statement has clearly stated that the news that the Times of India has published on Mar 3 has distorted facts and has misrepresented truth. The ministry questions the reliability of the content and states that it seems to be of malicious intent. The ministry thereby clarified that NIOS accredits Madrassas under SPQEM (Special provision for quality education of Madrassas).
According to the ministry, various subjects are offered to learners under this provision, without any hard line boundaries of fixed subject combinations, unlike that in the formal education system. It is totally the discretion of the learner whether to opt for subject combination from the bouquet of the subjects provided by NIOS or not.
The NIOS has prepared 15 courses on the ‘Bharatiya Jnana Parampara’ (Indian knowledge tradition) that include veda, yoga, science, vocational skills, Sanskrit language, Ramayan epic narratives, Bhagvad Gita teachings and the Panini-propounded Maheshwara Sutras, among others. These courses are equivalent to classes 3, 5 and 8 of elementary education.
The Education Ministry has stated that there are around 100 Madrassas with 50,000 students accredited with the National Institute of Open Schooling. Further, there are plans to accredit around 500 more Madrassas with the NIOS in the recent future. The decision, however, will totally be taken on the basis of the demand of Madrassas.
