UGC Chairman Defends NCERT Textbook Revisions, Calls Criticism By Academicians Unwarranted

The UGC Chairman has come forward to support the revisions made to NCERT textbooks and has deemed the criticisms raised by academicians as unwarranted.

NCERT has been revising textbooks from time to time in the past too, says UGC Chairman.

The chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) has stepped forward to support NCERT amidst the controversy surrounding the substantial revision of the original syllabus in their textbooks. In response to criticisms leveled by a group of "academicians," the UGC chairman said that these attacks are unwarranted. "In the recent past, the attacks by some "academicians" on NCERT for revising the textbooks are unwarranted. The current textbook modifications are not the only ones carried out. NCERT has been revising textbooks from time to time in the past too. NCERT is fully justified in carrying out the rationalization of its textbook contents. NCERT has repeatedly stated that the revision of textbooks originates from various stakeholders' feedback and suggestions," UGC Chairman Jagadesh Mamadela told ABP LIVE.

Jagadesh kumar said that the objective behind their grumbling seems to be other than academic reasons. 

"NCERT has also confirmed that it is developing a new set of textbooks based on the recently launched  National Curriculum Framework for School Education and that current textbooks in which the contents have been rationalized to reduce the academic load are only a temporary phase. Given this, there is no merit in the hue and the cry of these "academicians.", He added. 

Notably, a group of 73 academicians, including vice-chancellors of central universities, have issued a statement in the ongoing controversy. They have alleged that false propaganda is being spread against the council and expressed concerns about attempts to hinder the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 for political purposes.

This statement comes in response to a previous development where 33 academicians, who were part of the textbook development committee for books created in 2006-07 based on the 2005 version of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), and are presently in use, wrote a letter to the council. In the letter, they stated that the recent exercise of syllabus rationalization has undermined their collaborative creative effort and requested the council to remove their names from the current textbooks.