Yogi Adityanath calls for uniform academic syllabus for state boards, religious institutions across country

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday underlined the need for uniform syllabus in educational institutions across the country.

"Schools run by CBSE, state boards and religious institutions have different syllabi and this disrupts academic uniformity among students at the national level," said the chief minister.

He said the Constitution grants equal rights, but there’s a need for equality in education. Addressing the inaugural session of the two-day “School Summit” in Lucknow on Wednesday, he said inequality in education remains a big challenge.

"Jo shiksha kisi samaj aur rashtra ke sabsey adhaar-poorn stambh ke roop mein honi chahiye … jab hum swayam usmein ek samanta nahi la paye hain ...toh ussay nikalne wale nagriko ke mann mein ek samanta la payen yeh chunauti hamesha bani rahe hai aur bani rahegi (When we ourselves have not been able to bring equality in education, the main pillar of society ... then how we can bring an equality in minds of citizens. It’s a big challenge to bring equality among citizens where education is unequal,” he said. He said there should be an initiative to bring consensus among states for implementing uniform syllabus.

“Questions may be raised on whether we are restricting education and acting as a barrier in the development of society. We have to look at the difference and inequality in syllabi implemented by state boards, CBSE and religious boards. Students are at the receiving end as CBSE syllabus is given priority in national-level exams,” he said.

Minister of state for basic education (independent charge) Satish Dwivedi said data for NITI Ayog’s school education quality index (SEQI) was collected before March 2017 during the tenure of the previous government. “Kerala tops the SEQI list while UP hugs the lowest rank. Poor infrastructure has a big role to play. We have started ‘kayakalp’ to revamp schools and have already renovated 90,000 schools,” he said.

The minister said, the current government is trying to remove negative perception about government primary schools, which was triggered by the apathetic attitude of earlier governments. Dwivedi also called on corporates to invest in school as a future expansion plan.