On Wednesday, Pinarayi Vijayan, the chief minister of Kerala, sharply attacked the National Council of Educational Research and Training’s (NCERT) decision to strike some passages from the textbooks for higher secondary education. His claim that the NCERT’s action was ‘driven by vested interests’ and that it would ‘harm the students’ was supported by evidence. Additionally, the Chief Minister released new textbooks for class 11 and 12 pupils in the state that contained the NCERT-removed material.
‘The students are receiving textbooks prepared by NCERT with vested interests. What is the danger due to this? It will alter the way children perceive society and history. A generation that is full of prejudices and lacking a sense of humanity will be shaped. It will endanger our secular thinking and fraternal society,’ the Chief Minister said.
In order to assure ‘excellent education,’ Pinarayi said, the Left-led administration in Kerala chose to create the supplemental textbooks as a substitute for bringing back ‘unavoidable topics.’
He also questioned the NCERT’s claim that the modifications were made in response to a committee of experts’ recommendations to lighten and rationalise the weight of textbooks.
‘They claim that such opinions are put forward by experts. However, the identities of these experts have not even been disclosed,’ he said.
Pinarayi added that the chapters on poverty, Mughal domination, the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, and other topics that were omitted are crucial. In his words, ‘omitting such information is based on specific political interests, not to lighten the textbooks.’
Pinarayi claimed that the decision to omit the chapter on Gandhi’s murder was made to ‘whitewash the individuals and organisations involved in it.’
Pinarayi claimed that the decision to omit the chapter on Gandhi’s murder was made to ‘whitewash the individuals and organisations involved in it.’
‘There is no doubt that those who gloss over such organisations today will depict Godse, the assassin of Gandhi, as a great figure tomorrow. How dangerous is this situation?’ he asked.
According to CM Vijayan, the authorities have removed lessons that ‘uphold constitutional values such as scientific awareness and secularism,’ despite the fact that the nation needs an education policy that ‘provides students with current knowledge and skills and emphasises the country’s constitutional values, socialist ideals, gender justice, and scientific awareness.’
Kerala schools use NCERT textbooks for classes 11 and 12, despite the fact that the state has its own textbooks up to class 10. Chapters from extra textbooks will also be covered in the higher secondary exams.
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