Ramayana, Mahabharata only being taught in Class 5 and 8
Education department yet to fully integrate the teachings of these epics in school curricula
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has recently instructed that lessons about Lord Ram and Lord Krishna be introduced into the Madhya Pradesh Board textbooks. But the education department has not even fully implemented the previous directive issued by former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.
Currently, the MP Board schools include chapters based on Ramayana, Mahabharata epic texts only in certain grades. The class 8 textbook includes a chapter named ‘Gita ka Marma,’ and the class 5 curriculum features a chapter on ‘Prerak Prasang’ from the Mahabharata.
The Madhya Pradesh government has repeatedly directed the introduction of subjects on the Ramayana, Mahabharata, and teachings of the Gita in the classes from 1 to 12. But despite repeated directives over the years, the department has faced challenges in fully integrating this in school curriculum.
Similarly, in 2011, former chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan directed the education department to incorporate ‘Gita Saar’ into the curriculum from classes 1 to 10, a directive that went unimplemented. Again, in 2015, Chouhan announced the inclusion of the Gita in schools, but the initiative faced opposition and was subsequently shelved.
Later, in 2022, Yadav, the then minister of higher education, introduced the Ramayana and the Gita as optional subjects, yet fullscale inclusion across all grades remains unsuccessful.
There are repeated announcements and directives to integrate these teachings into the school system, but the lack of consistent implementation raises questions about the effectiveness of these efforts.
When Free Press spoke to Prakash Bartunia of Madhya Pradesh Pathya Pustak Nigam regarding the inclusion of these epics in the syllabus, he said that have design the syllabus, but it is frequently revised. Therefore, the decision to implement it rests solely with Rajya Shiksha Kendra.