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Sikhs
turn to schools with DVD to tell their story
Onkar S Bindra
 Since
2005, California Sikhs have pointed out to the State Board of
Education that Sikh culture and Sikh contributions to California
history are under-represented in the school textbooks, leading many
to mistake Sikhs for what they are not. They have suggested how to
better incorporate Sikhs into the history-social science curriculum,
pointed out inaccuracies, and submitted "The Sikh Next Door" program
and "Meet the Sikhs" DVD for inclusion in the approved Supplemental
Instructional Materials.
"Meet the Sikhs" is a short video, produced in 2005 by the Public
Broadcasting station KVIE (TV Channels 6 & 7, Sacramento). It was
telecast by the KVIE numerous times. After a successful Legal and
Social review in 2006, the video was included in the list of
approved Supplemental Instructional Materials for California's
Public Schools. Dr. David Hosley, the General Manager of the KVIE,
kindly agreed that the video may be used for educational purposes
free of charge.
Mr.
Jack O'Connell, the Superintendent of Public Instructions in
California, has taken a commendable step in writing to County and
District Superintendents, at the request of this reporter, to make
use of the video. The Superintendent wrote "Members of the Sikh
community have testified to the SBE that Sikhs have been targets of
hate crimes, especially in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001
attacks, by Americans who mistakenly identify them as Arab or
Muslim." Mentioning that the short video "Meet the Sikhs" is
available in Quick Time format at
http://www.kvie.org/education/default.htm
free of charge, he stated, "I encourage you to make use of this
video to inform students about the roles and contributions of Sikhs
to the history of California".
Sikh parents should personally see the Principals of the schools of
their children to provide them one or two copies of the DVD with a
request that the DVD may be shown to all their staff, faculty and
students. They could also offer their services for a half-an-hour
presentation on Sikh culture, history and religion to the teachers.
Sikh organizations, Gurdwaras and Punjabi schools could motivate the
parents and choose volunteer parents for contacting each Principal.
In case of problem in downloading the DVD, KVIE {
www.kvie.org
Toll-free: 800-347-KVIE (5843)} could help. For any more
information, please contact osbindra@yahoo.com.
12 December, 2007
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