West Bengal Govt Orders All Schools, Madrassas To Sing ‘Vande Mataram’ Every Morning

The West Bengal government has ordered that “Vande Mataram” be sung during morning assemblies in all government, aided and recognised madrassas and state-run schools. Officials said the national song must now be rendered by students every day before classes start across schools in the state.

The directive was circulated last week through a school education department notice. It instructed authorities to ensure strict daily compliance. According to officials, institutions were told the practice should begin with immediate effect and must be included as part of the standard morning prayer routine.

West Bengal: Directorate of Madrasah Education has made the singing of “Vande Mataram” mandatory during assembly prayers before classes in all government, aided, and recognised madrasahs across the state with immediate effect pic.twitter.com/6MK8h0D3YR

— IANS (@ians_india) May 20, 2026

Vande Mataram school assemblies directive and implementation

The notice stated: “The singing of Vande Mataram during morning assembly prayers prior to the start of classes should be made mandatory so that Vande Mataram is sung by all students in all schools in the state with immediate effect.” Some schools said they had already begun following this order.

Jadavpur Vidyapith headmaster Partha Pratim Baidya said, “Since last week, we have been singing 'Vande Mataram' before the National Anthem.” An education department official explained that the latest instruction deals only with the national song. “We have been asked to introduce Vande Mataram as school prayer, but there is no mention of the state song,” the official said.

Vande Mataram school assemblies directive and related concerns

The move follows a Union home ministry instruction issued in January. That communication asked institutions to sing “Vande Mataram” to mark 150 years of the national song. West Bengal had earlier required schools to sing “Banglar mati Banglar jal” during assemblies, which raised questions about how both songs would now be accommodated.

Some school heads said there was confusion about whether the state song would continue alongside “Vande Mataram” and the National Anthem. One head said, “We cannot drop the National Anthem, as it is a must. Now our first song will be Vande Mataram and adding the state song will take more time, which will delay classes. Though the notice did not mention anything about the state song, retaining students for three songs is not an easy task.”

Debate around the directive echoed a question raised in a poll: “Should patriotic songs be part of daily school assemblies?” The options listed were “Yes, it builds unity” and “No, it should be optional.” The state government has, however, treated the current decision as a mandatory instruction.