00:00Pundit Navin Maharaj, speaking on The Morning Edition, warns that social media and other
00:07external influences are increasingly shaping the lives and values of the nation's youth.
00:13He says educators are fighting an uphill battle, constantly competing with these powerful forces
00:20to keep cultural heritage alive in the hearts and minds of the younger generation.
00:25In terms of how or to the degree to which they appreciate, I think over the years it has dwindled
00:33a bit and it has been challenging because the societal conditions would have changed. Before
00:42the home would have been the means and the mode, the school would have been the means and the mode
00:46and the agents of communication and inclusion. Now social media has totaled, as I mentioned before,
00:51social media would have dominated that. He points out that Hindu schools observe Christmas holidays,
00:58while Christian schools also recognize Diwali and Indian Arrival Day, an encouraging sign of mutual
01:04respect. This, he says, underscores the ongoing need for cultural infusion within our educational
01:12institutions to ensure that diversity and heritage are meaningfully preserved and celebrated.
01:19The Ministry of Education has what is called the cultural transformation policy that would have
01:24been implemented where schools are tasked especially, and that's why it's with looking at cultural aspects
01:32and how those cultural aspects bring about and help to enhance the behaviour modification of students.
01:38And you would find under this policy, this particular policy, and a lot of our schools have been doing it even before that.
01:46Pundit Navin Maharaj says the contributions of the Indian community are deeply embedded into the social,
01:54cultural and economic fabric of the country. He tells the TV6 Morning Edition that Indian Arrival Day
02:01is not merely a celebration, but a solemn opportunity to honour the enduring legacy of the forefathers.
02:08The marking and commemoration of the East Indian holiday, of this particular holiday, is in a way more of a reverence
02:15that we pay to those who have come before us. Because we built on their foundation, they made the
02:23foundation and we built upon them. That's how we commemorate and we mark. We pay respect to those who have
02:28gone before us. Their toys, their struggles. Nicole M. Romany, TV6 News.
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