The Uttarakhand government is making Sanskrit a mandatory subject for students from class 3-8 across all schools in the state. The announcement to this effect was made by the minister for school education after a meeting with his department officials on Tuesday.

Sanskrit is taught compulsorily from class 3 till class 12 in Uttarakhand government schools. While Sanskrit’s status as the second state language of Uttarakhand was the primary motivation behind the move, minister Arvind Pandey said it would also help the students in learning “teachings of Gita” and fighting “depression”.

“Another reason for making Sanskrit compulsory is that children in this age of technology get depressed from a very early age. By learning the teachings of Geeta as part of the subject, the morale of the younger generation will be boosted and they can use these teachings in later phases of life too,” said Pandey.

Earlier, private schools in the state had the option of choosing Sanskrit from class 3-8, or otherwise, as per the norms of the board followed, Sanskrit was taught from class 6 onwards.

The education department had recently asked the teachers in government schools to sing Sanskrit poems to make it easy for the children to grasp. Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, last month launched a CD of the Sanskrit poems in the song form.