Three Congress-ruled states make Preamble to the Constitution part of school curriculum

Congress governments in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan have decided to introduce key aspects of the Indian Constitution in the curricula of all the government educational institutions. The decision comes two days after the Madhya Pradesh government issued a similar order making the reading of the preamble in schools mandatory against the backdrop of widespread protests in the country questioning the constitutionality of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

The Chhattisgarh School Education Department issued a directive on Friday saying the preamble of the constitution will be discussed in schools in the first week of the month, followed by a discussion on the fundamental rights mentioned in the constitution in the second week and discussion on the fundamental duties in the third week.

“The idea is that the constitution should be discussed and should be talked about among the young people. The students who are in school and the teachers who are teaching them should be aware and should express their views about the Indian Constitution,” said Alok Shukla, secretary School Education Department.

On the occasion of Constitution Day, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel had announced organising programs in state’s educational institutes every Monday to spread awareness about the constitution.

The Rajasthan government, too, on Friday made recitation of the preamble mandatory in all schools with effect from January 26.

“To introduce the essence of the Indian Constitution to the youth of the state, the government has mandated recitation of the Preamble of the Constitution in all schools from January 26th,” State education minister Govind Singh Dostara said.

The Madhya Pradesh government had made the preamble of the constitution mandatory in schools on Wednesday.

The order issued on Wednesday evening by the school education department stated, “The preamble of the Constitution will be read out by the headmaster/teacher in all the primary and middle schools after prayer on every Saturday. The same will be read out by the students later.

Earlier, the Maharashtra government made the reading of the preamble mandatory for school students. In fact, in Maharashtra, a resolution to the effect was adopted by the government in 2013 but it was not implemented, as per education department officials.