KOLKATA: The West Bengal government has made the singing of Vande Mataram mandatory during morning assemblies in state-run schools and in all government, aided and recognised madrassas, officials said on Thursday. Last week, a notice issued by the school education department directed schools to ensure that the national song is sung before classes begin every day. “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,” the notice stated. The move follows a directive by the Union home ministry issued in January, which said “Vande Mataram” should be sung to mark 150 years of the national song. The previous state government had made “Banglar mati Banglar jal” compulsory during morning assemblies in state schools. Some school heads said the latest order did not clarify whether the state song would continue alongside “Vande Mataram” and the National Anthem. “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,” a school head said. An education department official said the new instruction only referred to Vande Mataram. “We have been asked to introduce Vande Mataram as school prayer, but there is no mention of the state song,” the official said. Some schools said they had already begun implementing the directive. Jadavpur Vidyapith headmaster Partha Pratim Baidya said, “Since last week, we have been singing ‘Vande Mataram’ before the National Anthem.”