Students who have studied at ‘gurukuls’ and ‘veda pathshalas’ will soon be eligible for Class 10 and Class 12 certificates, making them eligible to apply for jobs that have a Class 12 qualification.
The National Institute of Open Schooling, which is an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), has set the ball rolling to open such opportunities for Sanskrit learners whose traditional learning did not enjoy certification.
Any student who is 15 years of age and self-certifies that he can read and write Sanskrit is eligible to apply for Class 10 certification with the NIOS.
The student will be assigned a ‘gurukul’ nearby to be able to attend classes. The NIOS has also prepared Sanskrit textbooks.
The ‘gurukuls’ chosen under this schema are ones that have Sanskrit teachers, classrooms and other basic infrastructure.
The scheme is part of an initiative to promote “Indian Knowledge Tradition” courses.
The NIOS had also put up a stall of its Sanskrit material at the recent Sanskrit conclave at Ujjain, which saw the participation of the Madhya Pradesh government and the Bharatiya Shikshan Mandal, an organisation that aimss to promote indigenous education.
Small batch
“Our scheme is National Curriculum Framework-compliant, and the scheme has already begun with a small batch of students. The students will have to pass five subjects: veda adhyayana (Vedic learning), bharatiya darshan (Indian thought), Sanskrit vyakarana (Sanskrit grammar), Sanskrit sahitya (Sanskrit grammar) and Sanskrit languuage,” said a senior official, who did not wish to be named. “If the students achieve passing mark (33%) in the exams conducted by the NIOS, they will be eligible for the certificate.”
The present initiative permits Sanskrit learners to qualify as school pass-outs in open and distance learning mode.
