WASHINGTON, D.C., January 28, 2016 (HAF): Leaders of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) applauded the Virginia Board of Education’s adoption of new history and social science curriculum frameworks, which significantly improved upon the previous versions of the draft.
HAF had previously worked with the Virginia Department of Education to improve language in their history-social science standards of learning and had met with Board members and DOE staff numerous times over the past two years. The conversations and public testimony led to changes in the history-social science standards of learning in March 2015.
Since November, HAF and members of Virginia’s Hindu community, along with academic experts, submitted comments on ways to improve language in the frameworks, which are used to shape local curriculum across the Commonwealth and textbook content.
Among the changes was a section that nuanced India’s origins. The Final Draft adopted Jan. 2016 reads: “Classical Indian civilization began in the Indus River Valley, spread to the Ganges River Valley, and then spread throughout the Indian subcontinent. This spread continued with little interruption because of the geographic location. Historians are divided over whether migrations occurred or whether Indian civilization grew from within, but agree that Harappan civilization and the Vedic period shaped Indian society.”