(courtesy of ISKCON News)

ISKCON temples all over the world are being invited to reach out to their local private and public schools to ask them to register students for the Value Education Olympiad 2021.

This year, the popular Olympiad, started by ISKCON in India, will be held online and will focus on environmental themes due to the current urgency around climate change. Using a series of study guides, seminars and workshops from August 1st to September 26th, followed by an exam on October 17th, the Olympiad will teach students age 10 to 18 to imbibe values that make them sensitive to caring for the environment, using teachings from the Bhagavad-gita. The program is presented by Govardhan Eco Village (GEV) and ISKCON in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) under the Faith For Earth Councilor initiative.

In India, temples who are already involved include ISKCON of Punjabi Bagh, Delhi, which is organizing the Olympiad, as well as Pune, Bangalore, Sri Rangam, Meerut, and Nagpur. Internationally, temples involved include ISKCON of Vancouver in Canada; Sydney and Brisbane in Australia; and temples in South Africa and Malaysia.

“We are presenting an environmental education program for children, because that is the need of the hour,” says Project Lead Karuna Chandra Das, who is also a member of the Vice Presidential Board at ISKCON Punjabi Bagh. “For this cause, schools, parents, teachers, and principals would be happy to welcome such a program.”

He adds, “People always ask how the Gita is relevant to our practical problems. So this program is an answer to those questions. Climate change is affecting people all across the globe. Education is an important part of addressing it, and because we are from ISKCON we’re using the Bhagavad-gita to address the issue.”