National icons’ pics to be put up in Raj schools

■ Sermons of saints to be given as part of ‘ extra- curricular activity’

Photos of Savarkar and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya on the wall and sermons of saints will now greet children in government schools in Rajasthan.

As per the calendar released recently for the session 2018- 19, the schools will hold “Bal Sabhas” for five minutes on Saturdays. The calendar has fixed schedule of five Saturdays, including review of issues of national importance or lecture on any great personality or lecture of “saints- mahatmas” on the third Saturday, as part of the ‘ extra- curricular activity’.

The event can also be held apart from “Bal Sabhas” during the zero hour after morning prayer, the calendar stated.

The academic calendar for the year 2018- 19 has been circulated to all the district education officers in the state by the director of the secondary education department to ensure the activities are implemented in all government schools.

On the first Saturday of the month, biographies of wellrenowned persons will be read out to the students, it said. On the second Saturday, stories on inspiration and moral values will be read out. On the fourth Saturday, a quiz programme will be held, and plays on moral values will be enacted and patriotic songs will be sung on the fifth Saturday, it said.

Meanwhile, the education department has also decided to put up portraits of national heroes and freedom fighters. Thus, Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and RSS thinker and co- founder of Jan Sangh Deen Dayal Upadhyaya’s portraits will adorn walls along with freedom fighters Ashfaqullah Khan, Bhagat Singh and other national icons like Rajput kings Prithviraj Chauhan, and Maharana Pratap, tribal warrior Punja Bheel, Swami Vivekananda, and former President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.

These portraits will be showcased in a special ‘ Bharat Darshan Gallery’ to be set up in schools.