Ahmedabad: School children in Gujarat will holler ‘Jai Hind’ and ‘Jai Bharat’ instead of customary ‘Present’ during the daily roll call to register attendance from today onwards.
According to a notification by Directorate of Primary Education and Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB), students of Classes 1 to 12 in government, grant-in-aid and self-financed schools will have to respond to the attendance call with ‘Jai Hind’ or ‘Jai Bharat,’ starting 1 January.
All teachers and education officers have been directed to make sure that the new direction is followed in every school across the State.
The decision was taken by Gujarat Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama during a review meeting held on Monday.
The new directive has been introduced to ‘foster patriotism among students right from childhood.’
Copies of the notification were sent to the district education officials with instructions to implement it from 1 January.
The Gujarat Education Minister could not be contacted for comment despite repeated attempts, reports new agency PTI.
Meanwhile, in neighbouring Rajasthan, the new Congress government led by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot recently resolved to undo ‘saffronisation of education’ which it alleges took place in the previous Vasundhara Raje-led government.
A committee of historians has been constituted to review various changes in the school syllabi, especially from history related to Emperor Akbar, Maharana Pratap, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Deendayal Upadhyaya and others.