FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media@sikhcoalition.org
New Social Studies Standards in Minnesota will Include Sikhism
February 5, 2023 (Saint Paul, MN) – On Thursday, February 1, the state of Minnesota approved new social studies standards, which will include Sikhi for the first time ever. These new standards will give more than 800,000 students in Minnesota’s public schools the opportunity to learn about the Sikh community, and represent yet another victory in the years-long, nationwide effort to push for Sikh inclusion in state standards.
“These new standards will ensure that Sikh students see their community and history reflected in their classrooms,” said Randeep Singh Arora, Secretary of the Sikh Society of Minnesota Gurdwara Sahib, of Bloomington, MN. “Inclusion in standards is necessary to prepare Minnesota’s students for interactions in both the classroom and the real world.”
Since February of 2020, the Sikh Coalition and the Sikh community in Minnesota have worked together in order to achieve this outcome. Following the Sikh Coalition’s initial outreach to the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), we worked with sangat members and interfaith allies over the next several years to provide feedback on each iteration of the draft standards as well as facilitate sign-on letters, op-eds, and public comments and testimony from more than 250 sangat members. For a full accounting of our work to achieve this victory, click here.
Local adoption and implementation of the more inclusive standards will begin in the 2026-2027 school year. The Sikh Coalition will continue to work closely with the MDE during this process.
Minnesota is now the 19th in a growing list of states that have worked with the Sikh Coalition to include accurate information about Sikhs in their public school social studies standards. These efforts mean that more than 26 million students from coast to coast have the possibility of a more inclusive and holistic education.
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For more than 20 years, the Sikh Coalition has fought for the civil rights of Sikh Americans–including efforts to create safer and more inclusive classrooms for Sikh students nationwide. For more information about our work to ensure that Sikhism is accurately taught in Minnesota’s state standards or to interview Sikh community members in Minnesota please contact media@sikhcoalition.org.
