Arizona State Board of Education Approves Sikhism to Be Included in School Curriculum

According to India West "The Arizona State Board of Education Oct. 22 voted to include Sikhism and several other world religions for the first time in its K-12 curriculum.

The Board of Education noted that there will be a two-year transition period to implement the revised standards, with full implementation in the school year 2020-2021.

“As a result, the Arizona public school system has dramatically improved the state’s diversity education and religious literacy relating to Sikhs, other minority faiths and marginalized communities,” said the Sikh Coalition – the nation’s largest Sikh advocacy group – in a press statement.

The Sikh Coalition has worked for more than a year with the Arizona Sikh community to advocate for the inclusion of Sikhism in social studies material.

In April 2018 the more inclusive standards received public support, but a last-minute proposal from Arizona’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, Diane Douglas, threatened to eliminate every religion from the standards except Christianity, Islam and Judaism, according to the Sikh Coalition.

In response, the Sikh Coalition mobilized faith leaders, teachers, and community-based organizations to urge the Board of Education to approve the revised curriculum. The organization also launched a national petition drive which received more than 3,000 signatures.

“We are thrilled that Arizona has taken this step as we continue our efforts to create Sikh awareness in our nation’s classrooms for generations to come,” said Sikh Coalition education director Pritpal Kaur in a press statement. “Arizona now becomes the eighth state to incorporate these critical updates into their standards as we continue our work to combat bigotry and increase religious literacy across the United States.”

Arizona joins New York, New Jersey, Texas, Tennessee, Colorado, Idaho and California, impacting more than 15 million students in these states. The goal is to make sure Sikhism is included in every state’s standards over the next 10 years so every Sikh child is represented in their public schools, said the Sikh Coalition.

“This is another important victory for the Sikh community in our never-ending efforts to make sure our classrooms are inclusive and that every student in America is educated about Sikhism,” said Pritpal Kaur. “We have another 42 states to go, but we are excited about the hard work and opportunities that are in front of us.”Facebook