Whether teaching in
schools “God is the Creator’ is unconstitutional?
PMO asked Ministry of
Human Resource Development to inform!
Recently Prime Minister
Office has asked Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human
Resource Development to inform whether teaching ‘God is the Creator’ by schools
conforms with the secular character of the country and whether it is violation
of any of the article of Constitution of India?
This information was
provided to Dr. Indrajit Khandekar under right to information act by
Prime Minister’s office. Dr. Khandekar who is professor and in-charge of
Clinical Forensic Medicine Unit at Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical
Sciences- Sewagram, Wardha had submitted a detailed representation of 19 pages to
Prime Minister of India Shri Naredra Modi and Union Minister of
Human Resource Development Shri Prakash Javadekar highlighting the issue
of promotion of textbooks by various schools across the country approved by the
Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Council for the Indian School
Certificate Examinations (CISCE- ICSE) boards for the subject of ‘Value
Education’ that mentions ‘God is the Creator’.
Most of the schools affiliated
to CBSE & ICSE boards have made it compulsory for the students to buy the
said books. These books also provide
assessment for the same and there is compulsory question paper on it; due to
that, all the students has to recite the said thing despite students/ parents
genuine, conscientious religious objection.
Dr Khandekar has raised following
questions in his report:
1)
Whether compulsory promotion of
textbooks that mentions ‘God is the Creator’ by the schools and teaching only
theology of a particular religion by schools involving students of different
communities/ families is regarded as providing ‘Religious Instructions’ within
the ambit of Constitution of India and comport with the ‘Secular character’ of
the state?
2)
Whether forcing/ requiring the school
students to take part in religious instructions (i.e., teaching ‘God is the
Creator’) and to inculcate beliefs/ tenets of other religions in the minds of
students by the schools despite students/parents genuine, conscientious
religious objection, contravene the rights guaranteed by article 28 (3) and
Art. 19(1) (a) and 25 (1) of Constitution of India?
Even NCERT (National
Council of Educational Research & Training- Delhi) appreciated the concern
and extensive research done by Dr Khandekar on this issue, but expressed its
inability to do anything in this matter as it comes under central & state
Government.
STATUS IN OTHER COUNTRIES:
In
other countries, teaching Creation theory/ Creationism to students in schools is
declared as UNCONSTITUTIONAL by US Supreme Court and other courts and therefore
such type of teaching is banned in those countries.
