Kathmandu January 13.

National Curriculum Development Board has prepared the integrated curriculum for students from grade 9 to grade 12 in line with the government’s vision to ensure the holistic growth of the students. The Board under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology had earlier included syllabus on Yoga Education in class 9 but now the syllabus has been expanded up to grade 12 in an integrated manner. Board’s Executive Director Dr Lekhnath Poudel told Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS) that now the students from grade 9 to grade 12 could opt for three kinds of disciplines -Yoga Education, Naturopathy and Ayurveda. The move is also aimed at introducing Nepal as the land of Yoga, nationally and internationally, and to encourage people to embrace Yoga as the fundamental of our lives. Furthermore, various universities have been preparing to include the Yoga Education in the curriculum for Bachelors, Masters and PhD, informed Dr Poudel. Council for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CTEVT) has already introduced a three-year Yoga related course as a ‘level-2’. Poudel said that any schools, colleges and universities willing to incorporate Yoga Education in their curriculum could contact the Board and the Board will provide them the books having Yoga Education. Yoga trainer and activist Dr Hari Prasad Pokharel led taskforce had devised the curriculum for the secondary level which was approved by the Curriculum Development Council. Furthermore, the Council of Ministers on August 13, 2015 had officially decided to observe Magh 1 every year in the Nepali calendar as the National Yoga Day. Since then, National Yoga Day is being observed in Nepal on January 15.