A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-backed outfit has prepared a syllabus for teaching Vedic mathematics in schools and plan to introduce it in several private institutions ignoring the opinion of Mathematicians, who alway assert that there is no special branch of mathematics called “Vedic mathematics”.
On successful implementation of the pilot project, the Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas (SSUN), founded by right wing educationist and former RSS Pracharak Dinanath Batra, would press for introduction of the syllabus in government schools across the country, the organisation’s secretary Atul Kothari said. However, many noted Mathematicians debunk the idea, arguing that there was nothing called Vedic Mathematics that can be prescribed as syllabus in schools.
The SSUN, which has always been a strong proponent of the subject, intensified its demand for its introduction in schools and higher educational institutions since the BJP-led coalition came to power at the Centre.
“We have prepared a syllabus for teaching of Vedic Mathematics in Class I to XII. We are going introduce it as a pilot at a few private schools in Jhabua district in Madhya Pradesh and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh from this session. We are also in touch with some schools in Gujarat and Delhi too,” Kothari said.
The SSUN will request the government to consider including Vedic mathematics in schools’ curriculum when the National Council for Educational Research and Training undertakes formulation of new school curriculum, he said.
According to SSUN, the stream of Vedic mathematics is a set of 16 ‘Sutras’ (principals) derived from the ancient Hindu text Atharvaveda. Using these sutras, one can solve arithmetic problems in a shooting speed.
However, Gadadhar Mishara, chairman of the mathematics department of the IISc, Bengaluru, doubted the claim, saying Vedic mathematics was all about “a little trick here and there put together” to do multiplications and other calculations.