Spirituality Central

Kendriya Vidayalaya Sangathan,which runs over a thousand schools across India,has instructed each of them to go find the nearest Brahma Kumari Academy and arrange a weekly class on peace education for middle-schoolers. While the Sangathan has stressed the purely secular nature of these lessons,and insisted that the only rationale for choosing the Academy was the fact that the teachings were free and easily accessible,the decision appears baffling and random. Why this particular model?

The Brahma Kumari World Spiritual University is a Mount Abu based religious movement formed before independence. Once inward-looking and monastic,the Brahma Kumaris now have over 8500 centres across the world,focusing on spirituality which enhances personal effectiveness in the workplace and in family life. But the identity of the spiritual movement doesnt really matter. No matter how faith-neutral or uplifting the movements teachings,weekly lessons from them in a KV are a jarring idea.

Kendriya Vidyalayas are the best our public schooling system has to offer,their explicit mission to promote national integration and create a sense of Indian-ness. State-run schools are supposedly a separate sphere,where secular notions of citizenship are forged,and they should stay aloof from contending spiritual schools and missions. If the Brahma Kumaris are okay,why not outsource it to other faith-based groups as well? Even more so,values should be created from within,and that is why crafting a curriculum that nurtures inner growth is such a challenging task. A state-run school must stay away from recommending a prefabricated sense of what spirituality should be.