Education dept to crack down on saffronisation of schools

Kolkata: The state Education department is all set to take strong measures to tackle alleged saffronisation of education in the state. State Education minister Partha Chatterjee will hold a meeting with Gerry Arathoon, the Chief Executive and Secretary of the ICSE council, soon after the pujas.

It has been learnt that the Education minister will seek his opinion on the secular education system in the country and will follow it up with leading institutions like Ramakrishna Mission and seek their viewpoint in this regard.

It may be mentioned that the number of RSS minded schools in the state is more than 1,000 and some of these schools are affiliated to the ICSE council.

"The state is of the opinion that the lessons that are imparted in these schools go against the culture and tradition of education in the state. If everything goes as per plan, the meeting with Arathoon will be held on November 2," a senior official of the Education department said.

The minister has repeatedly expressed his concern over the mushrooming of such RSS backed schools in the state and had directed his department officials to prepare a list of such schools.

The state has identified around 493 such schools, among which 125 are running without no objection certifi-

cate of the state. The state wants to ensure closure of these schools.

It may be mentioned that a handful of these schools have been found imparting lessons on how to fight with sticks. They also have certain religious texts that encourage religious intolerance. "We have to see whether these schools are running with proper permission of our department and also examine what is being taught," the official added.