New Delhi, 30 April 2026: Adi Vidya Foundation, a non-profit public charitable knowledge trust, launched India’s first spiritual science curriculum at the first National Conference on Spirituality in schools held at the India International Centre, New Delhi. This first-of-its-kind national platform aims to bring structured, policy-backed dialogue on inner development and spiritual quotient to mainstream school education.
The programme aims to introduce structured learning focused on self-awareness, emotional resilience, values-based thinking, and inner well-being, marking an important step towards embedding holistic education and spiritual quotient within mainstream schooling.
Supported by The Millennium Schools Group, leading spiritual figures and mental health professional and leaders, the one-day conference brought together policymakers, education leaders, school principals, mental health and wellness professionals, and important spiritual leaders. The discussions focused on nurturing the education system beyond academic outcomes, towards a holistic approach that encompasses emotional well-being, ethical grounding, and self-awareness. The conference addressed spirituality not in religious terms, but as a framework for inner development that aligned with globally recognised principles of meaningful learning and long-term well-being.
Commenting on the initiative, Shantanu Prakash, Founder of Adi Vidya Foundation, said, “We have built an education system that focuses on everything except what matters most. We track marks, ranks and percentages, but we have no framework for how students feel, how they handle failure, or whether they have a sense of purpose beyond the next examination. Our aim is to bring the focus on SQ (Spiritual Quotient) on an equal footing with IQ and EQ. This conference is not about adding another subject to the timetable. It is about asking whether our schools are truly preparing students for life. The time to have this conversation, seriously and at a national scale, is now.”
The conference builds on the vision outlined in the National Education Policy 2020, which emphasises holistic development and promotes the integration of physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being into education through values-based learning and Indian Knowledge Systems. Despite this policy direction, implementation at the school level remains limited. The National Conference on Spirituality in Schools aims to bridge this gap by promoting an evidence-based approach to building a scalable, framework for the development of Spiritual Quotient and purpose among students rooted in ancient Indian principles.
The event commenced with a formal inaugural session featuring keynote speakers, senior government officials, and representatives from leading educational institutions. Distinguished speakers included Gauranga Prabhu Das ji, Pundrik Goswami Ji Maharaj, Renuka Goswami Ji, Swamini Pramanandi Ji (Amma Ji), Dr R Balasubramaniam, Himanshu Gupta IAS, Praveen Chaturvedi, Rahul Dewan, Veditha Reddy IAS, Acharya Giriratna Mishra Ji.
This was followed by a series of panel discussions centred on key themes such as integrating spirituality and Indian Knowledge Systems into curricula, addressing student mental health, fostering institutional cultures that support spiritual development, and creating policy frameworks to scale such initiatives nationally.
The event concluded with a synthesis session outlining a forward-looking national roadmap to advance spirituality in education. The day ended with a cultural evening featuring a classical music performance by the Mohan Brothers.
About Adi Vidya Foundation
Adi Vidya Foundation is a non-profit, non-sectarian public charitable knowledge trust committed to restoring Indian inner sciences as a structured and rigorous component of modern education. The Foundation addresses a critical gap in contemporary education systems, which often prioritize technical and cognitive skills while overlooking the development of inner clarity, ethical grounding and emotional self-regulation. Through its work in building the world’s first spiritual sciences curriculum for schools, research and scholarly validation, faculty development and institutional partnerships, the Foundation seeks to integrate inner development and Spiritual Quotient into mainstream education in a responsible and academically grounded manner. Operating with a strong emphasis on institutional integrity and constitutional alignment, the Adi Vidya Foundation positions inner sciences not as belief systems but as a disciplined and universal body of knowledge for human development and collective well-being.
For more info, visit- https://www.adividyafoundation.org/
Note to editors (verbatim comments by speakers)
Gauranga Prabhu Das, Governing Body Commissioner, ISKCON and Director of Govardhan Ecovillage said, “The modern education system is focused too much on sadhan and samarthya –too much on getting success based on resources, whereas the Bhagavad Gita describes that the definition of success is based on your sankalpa and sadhana. How to inculcate an experiential learning centered around spirituality for students across the length and breadth of the country, so that inevitably, as they continue going through the challenges in life, and life will keep throwing them prosperity and adversity. Life will definitely put them in situations where they feel totally, utterly helpless. But even if they become helpless, they do not become hopeless. Without hope nothing can be done. If you have no assets but hope, you can potentially do everything. We are teaching children when they grow up how to deal with FILE but not with LIFE.
The Bhagavad Gita explains very clearly that the foundation of Vijay is fivefold: Vinay, Vivek, Vairagya and Vishwas and it is ultimately that confidence which keeps you on the path and allows you to go through situations no matter what.”
Swamini Pramananda (Amma Ji), Spiritual Leader, Purna Vidya Foundation, Coimbatore said, “Listening to the voices of the classroom where we find our children are brilliant, we are smart, but we also find parallelly. Anxiety has become normal and the attention span has been shrinking. There is comparison, there is nervousness around- but then emotionally, where are they?
It’s not that the parents do not want the best for their children, but the only way they find themselves delivering this is by making sure that there is no discomfort to the child. As a result, you are creating increasingly nervous children. They don’t even have the tools to look within and manoeuvre their own emotions as required. Should we bring ancient wisdom into a modern curriculum? The question is about, how are we going to survive without it?
Let us understand first, who we are and what this wisdom is all about. Bharat is all about reverence… you take away reverence and gratitude. You have landed in secular India. The day apara vidya is integrated in our schools will be no more passing information to children. That will be real education, because that Vidya will be full now, complete knowledge with knowledge of the world and knowledge of the self.
Pundrik Maharaj ji said, “For centuries, India has carried a profound inner science, silently living in its villages, its traditions, and the behaviour of its people. Yet somewhere along the way, we began building education systems that train the mind, strengthen the body, and sharpen professional skills, but leave the deepest dimension of human existence entirely untouched. Soul consciousness, the awareness of who we truly are, is not a philosophical preach. It is the very source of energy that makes everything function.
What Mr. Shantanu and we set out to explore, and what this conference is attempting to put into action, is a return to that source. Today’s education prepares children beautifully for careers, for technology, for science. But it offers no guidance for the self. Unless we address that gap with the same seriousness we bring to academics, we are nurturing a generation that is outwardly equipped but inwardly adrift.”
