The ancient discipline of Vedic mathematics is being promoted at schools and universities in Haryana like never before.
WHAT PROMPTED THE HOLDS-NO-BAR EFFORT
The BJP government in the state had asked the Haryana Board of School Education in 2016 to explore steps to promote the subject. This came after SK Kapoor, a retired judge from Rohtak and author of several books on the subject, approached the former on the issue.
TWO COMMITTEES FORMED
The board formed a committee that has held several workshops, one of which involved a meeting of senior mathematics teachers from all districts at the board office. All participants suggested that Vedic math be introduced in all Haryana schools, Bhatia said.
The board had set up another committee last year to frame the syllabus as an additional subject. Besides Bhatia and Rawal, retired judge SK Kapoor and Sunil Bajaj of Gurgaon, head, mathematics wing, State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), Haryana, were included in it.
THE NEW SYLLABUS
The committee has framed the syllabus for Class 9 and the board plans to introduce it in about 100 schools on pilot basis in the coming academic session, Singh said. Other decisions related to the matter will be taken after evaluation of the experiment and also keeping in mind the availability of subject teachers in the state, he said.
When contacted, Kapoor said it was Banaras Hindu University (BHU) where Vedic math was first taught. It took about 50 years for the subject to be accepted the world over.
Kapoor, who attended an international conference on Vedic math last week at Saint Stephen’s College, Delhi, said many research papers demonstrating the values of the ancient discipline need be introduced at school and college levels.
