Ahmedabad: The students in Gujarat schools will now have to answer their roll calls with 'Jai Hind' or 'Jai Bharat' from January 1, 2019 in order to 'foster patriotism', stated a notification issued on Monday.
The notification has been issued by the Directorate of Primary Education and GSHSEB (Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board) and is valid for the students of class 1-12 in all the government, grant-in-aid and self-financed schools as well.
The objective of the new practice is to "foster patriotism among students right from childhood," it said.
As per the notification, the decision has been taken by the State Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama in a review meeting held on Monday.
The copies of the notification were sent to the district education officials with instructions to implement it from January 1.
Minister Chudasama could not be contacted for comment despite repeated attempts.