'Socialist', 'Secular' Missing From Preamble On Telangana Textbook Cover; SCERT Calls It Error

Two words of the Preamble - 'Socialist' and 'Secular' are missing from the cover page of the Class 10 social science textbook.

The Telangana State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has found itself in a controversy over the inclusion of the Preamble of the Constitution in a school textbook without the words 'socialist' and 'secular' on the cover page. The SCERT has stated that the omission was an oversight and not intentional, as reported by PTI.

The Telangana State United Teachers' Federation (TSUTF) has filed a complaint with the education department, pointing out that the words 'socialist' and 'secular' were missing from the Preamble on the cover page of the class 10 social studies textbook published by the SCERT. The TSUTF highlighted that these words were added to the Preamble through the 42nd Constitutional amendment.

Interestingly, the Preamble, including the words 'socialist' and 'secular', was correctly published in the pages inside the class 8 and 10 social studies books. The TSUTF raised concerns about the publication of the old version of the Preamble, which raises doubts and questions, especially at a time when there are ongoing debates about the status of secularism in India.

TSUTF said that the error was a major one and that either it happened intentionally or due to oversight.

The Federation urged that the correct Preamble be published and sought tough action against those responsible for wrongly publishing the Preamble, after conducting an inquiry. Meanwhile, the SCERT said the error was inadvertent.

"This happened by oversight and unintentionally while downloading the image at the time of designing the cover," the SCERT Director said.

However, in the inner pages of other textbooks, the Preamble after amendment was printed. "The error crept in inadvertently," the Director said.

According to a communique, the official directed all the District Educational Officers (DEOs) to download the image of the Preamble (amended) furnished by it and have it pasted on the cover page of the Class 10 Social Studies textbook.

"Therefore, all the District Educational Officers in the state are informed to instruct all the Headmasters/Principals of High Schools under all managements to ensure that the image of the Preamble (amended copy) is pasted on the Class X Social Studies textbook, supplied to the schools immediately, duly submitting the compliance report to the SCERT, Telangana without fail," the Director said in it. 

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