Big decision of Subhendu government in West Bengal, now singing ‘Vande Mataram’ is mandatory in all madrassas and schools.

Kolkata. Subhendu government of West Bengal has taken a very important and big decision regarding the education system of the state. The Minority Affairs and Madrasa Education Department of the Bengal Government has issued a strict order, under which it has now been made mandatory to sing the national anthem ‘Vande Mataram’ in all the Madrasas of the state. This new rule of the government will be applicable with immediate effect on government madrassas as well as all aided and unaided madrassas of the state.

Strict instructions have already been issued for schools-
Last week, just before the madrassas, the state school education department had also issued a similar notice.

In the notice, clear instructions have been given to all schools to ensure mandatory singing of ‘Vande Mataram’ in the morning assembly before the start of classes every day.

Actually, this step of the state government has been taken after the instructions of the Union Home Ministry (MHA), in which it was said to sing ‘Vande Mataram’ to commemorate the completion of 150 years in the month of January.

Confusion continues regarding ‘state song’-
After this new order of the government, a new debate has also started. Under the previous government’s system, it was made mandatory to sing ‘Banglar Mati Banglar Jal’ (the state song) in the morning prayers of schools. But it is not at all clear in the new order whether the old state song will now be continued along with ‘Vande Mataram’ and the mandatory national anthem. An education department official has clarified that the new instructions only mandate inclusion of ‘Vande Mataram’ in prayers, there is no mention of the state song.

Practical problems faced by schools regarding time-
Some school heads have also pointed out practical issues regarding this new order of the government:

Teachers say that the national anthem is mandatory, which cannot be removed under any circumstances.

Now ‘Vande Mataram’ will be sung first at the beginning of the prayer. If the state anthem is also sung along with it, students will have to stand in line for three songs each. Due to this, the prayer meeting will take more time and there will be delay in starting of classes.

However, despite these practical difficulties, many schools have started following the order. Principals of some schools like Jadavpur Vidyapeeth have confirmed that they have started singing of ‘Vande Mataram’ before the national anthem in the school since last week.