Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty has approached the Union government to review the recent deletion of texts from NCERT textbooks. In his letters to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the Kerala Edu Minister has urged that the balanced and comprehensive education of children through textbooks must be ensured to shape them into responsible citizens and future leaders.
Notably, the recent omission of various texts from NCERT Class 11 and Class 12 textbooks under NCERT’s ‘rationalisation’ process, has sparked several debates around the country. The NCERT Class 12 History textbook has removed portions on Mahatma Gandhi and how his pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity "provoked Hindu extremists". The textbook also omitted portions which talked about the ban imposed by the government on the RSS.
In his letters, Sivankutty also underlined the need of serious interventions to keep a check on the integrity of the education system and to ensure that the rich and diverse history and heritage of the country is being taught to children. Concerned over NCERT dropping texts from its textbooks, the Kerala Education Minister asked that the controversial move from NCERT should be reviewed at the earliest.
He also marked that the latest changes and updates to the education curriculum and system across the country are part of the NEP 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the removal of texts from NCERT textbooks is not academic, Sivankutty was reported as saying by news agency PTI.
He further added that the omission of texts on topics like peace, development, the rise of people's movements and Mughal history is not only injustice, but also deprives students from learning and becoming better citizens.
(With inputs from PTI)
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