Sudha Murty urges Centre to provide funds to promote storytelling in schools

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP Sudha Murty on Tuesday urged the union government to provide funds to schools to build halls where students can be taught values through storytelling.

"We can teach children AI, computer science, mathematics etc, but you are not making our children good citizens. A good character, value based education, we are not able to do that," Murty said while participating in a debate on the Budget in the Upper House.

While welcoming the budget, she stressed that children should be taught values to make them good citizens.

She said India has a story-telling tradition, and mentioned some images found on a cup discovered at the archaeological site of Lothal.

"We should have compulsory story telling sessions, have teachers' training inclusive of storytelling, and if possible, we should have an institution built over time for storytelling," she said.

"I request the finance minister, particularly at high school level, to require this new art to be introduced in their life, and the government should give a little more funding for building a room, with AC or fan," she added.

"It is very difficult to bring up children without a value system because ultimately they do not become good citizens even though they may be highly educated people," Murty said.