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The Uttarakhand government has announced the inclusion of the Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayana in the syllabus of over 17,000 government schools, starting Wednesday, July 16.

Additionally, all students will be required to recite verses from the Gita.

Speaking to reporters, state education minister Dhan Singh Rawat said it will be mandatory for all students to recite verses from the Gita during the morning assemblies.

Uttarakhand director of education, Dr Mukul Kumar Sati, said the initiative is not religious but aims to promote moral values among students. “One shloka will be recited and discussed each week in prayer assemblies. The teachings focus on behavioural science, leadership, emotional intelligence, and decision-making, all drawn from Sankhya philosophy and universal moral principles,” he said.

Teachers’ association oppose decision

But the decision has triggered strong opposition and criticism from the teacher associations. They argue that introducing religious texts in public schools violates constitutional provisions and threatens India’s secularism.

Citing Article 28(1) of the Indian Constitution, which prohibits religious instruction in government-funded schools, the president of the Uttarakhand teacher association, Sanjay Kumar Tamta said that the move can highly disturb social harmony amongst students.

“This is not appropriate in a secular education system. Public schools are attended by children from various religious and social backgrounds. Teaching from specific religious scriptures could alienate some students,” he said.

The announcement comes on the same day that NCERT released its Class 8 revised history textbooks presenting the Mughal rulers Babur, Akbar, and Aurangzeb as “brutal mass murderers” and “destroyers of temples.”

Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part 1) has chapters covering Indian history from the 13th to the 17th centuries titled Reshaping India’s Political Map. It details the rise and fall of the Delhi Sultanate and resistance to it, the Vijayanagara Empire, the Mughals and the resistance to them, and the rise of Sikhism, the Indian Express reported.

There is also a special section called Note on Some Darker Periods in History, which emphasises that no one should be blamed today for the actions of individuals in the past.