Dehra Dun: Call it the Anna effect, but if Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education, Vineet Joshi is to be believed it has been decided to inculcate the habit of doing away with corruption and creating an atmosphere for zero tolerance to corruption at a young age.
For this the CBSE has decided that the fight against corruption should be included in the school curriculum and to this effect a circular has also been sent to the affiliated schools.
According to reports that it had also been decided that the week beginning Oct 31, which happens to be the birthday of the late iron man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, will be celebrated as vigilance awareness week. This will give a much needed fillip to the tirade against corruption and students from class VI to class XII will be told to participate in the various functions.
Asserting that the curriculum will prepare the children to fight against corruption, which has become the bane of Indian society, as was evident in the large support to Anna Hazare’s fast for a strong Jan Lokpal Bill, the report said that a calendar of events had also been prepared for the various programmes to be held under the anti-corruption curriculum.
It will start with the focus on creating awareness against corruption in the school going children with talks and debates on corruption, small skits and one act plays highlighting the prevalent corruption in society and involvement of the deputy commissioners and district police chiefs besides other administrative officers and officials of departments tackling corruption at various levels.
Schools have also been asked to be in touch with RTI activists and also social activists involved in the field to interact with the students so that can give first hand information on the subject. This will also help in removing any misconceptions or doubts that the children may be having.
To make the programme more forceful, it has also been decided that students of class IX and X will also be taken on filed trips to the RTI offices and also to the panchayats and gram panchayats where they can get first hand information on the functioning of these organizations. Seminars will also be held where they can ask questions to remove any doubts.
A journalist with over 40 years of experience, Jagdish Bhatt was Editor, Hill Post (Uttarakhand).
Jagdish had worked with India’s leading English dailies, which include Times of India, Indian Express, Pioneer and several other reputed publications. A highly acclaimed journalist, he was a recipient of many awards
Jagdish Bhatt, aged 72, breathed his last on 28th August 2021 at his Dehradun residence.
