The Tapi district Education Department, acting on instructions from Collector Vipin Garg, has issued a circular to all government primary and secondary schools banning religious activities on campus. Strict action will be taken against any student or teacher found violating the directive, sources said on Monday.
As per a media report, the move follows reports and social media posts alleging that some students and, in certain cases, teachers were engaging in religious activities in schools. The district administration had also received memorandums raising concerns about these practices.
The District Collector issued the circular to Tapi District Education Officer (DEO) Dharaben Patel and District Primary Education Officer (DPEO) Varshaben Vasava on April 16. The DEO and DPEO then forwarded it to all primary, secondary, and higher secondary schools in Tapi on Saturday.
“It has come to the notice, through the posts on social media platforms and memorandums submitted to the district administrative authorities, that certain religious-based activities are being carried out in the secondary and primary schools in the district by students and in some cases, by teachers. Strict vigilance should be maintained in relation to such issues to ensure that they do not happen,” stated the circular.
The circular stated, “The school authorities — principals, teachers, and other top officials should ensure that if such activities are being carried out, they should be stopped and the same does not happen in future.” It further clarified that religious-based activities include ‘prayers, hymns based on any specific religion, preaching activities, religious knowledge, and religious books for the propagation of the particular religion’.”
“The school authorities should also ensure that no illegal religious activities, gatherings or meetings are held in or around the school premises which may cause disturbance to the studies or other school activities. No unauthorised religious structures should be constructed on school campuses. Apart from this, no religious images, photos, symbols should be displayed in the classrooms or in the schools,” added the circular.
“To maintain social harmony on the school campus and to prevent undesirable incidents based on religion, all the precautions should be taken. If any such activities are found in the school, strict actions should be taken,” the circular said further.
DEO Dharaben Patel told The Indian Express, “We have issued a circular to different schools in the district and instructed that the points mentioned in it should be strictly followed.”
“I have been in Tapi for the last two years, and there are many staffers who have been in service for 15 years or more. We have not come across any such incidents wherein a certain religion is being propagated in the schools. We have not received any such complaints from parents or students either.” the DEO said.
“We celebrate festivals of different religions under Sarva Dharma Sambhav to maintain communal harmony in the schools. We have given clear instructions to the schools not to relate education to language, caste, or religion. We have also sent the circular to senior teachers and principals through WhatsApp as well,” Patel added. “In the coming days, we will carry out surprise inspections and if anybody is found violating the instructions, strict actions will be taken against those responsible for it,” the DEO said further.
District Collector Vipin Garg did not respond to repeated calls seeking his comments on the issue. Recently, spiritual leader Morari Bapu, addressing a religious gathering in Songadh taluka, raised “grave concerns about religious conversions” in the district. He claimed that Christian missionaries were allegedly converting tribal people in rural areas by offering free education and that teachers, who are government-paid, were promoting a specific religion in schools.
A member of the Primary and Secondary School Principal Association, speaking anonymously, stated, “We haven’t encountered any religious activities in district schools. Religious conversions may be happening, but not at the school level.”
Tapi district has over 159 secondary and higher secondary schools, along with more than 1,000 primary schools.