The Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP) has demanded that the Union government withdraw the move to drop three chapters, including one that dealt with the ‘Maaru Marakkal Samaram’ (Channar Revolt) in the erstwhile Travancore, from the Class-IX History textbook.
In a statement here, the KSSP said the move to omit the chapters in the name of lessening the burden on students questioned the premise of scientific and democratic education.
Chapters’ content
The chapters omitted pertained to influence of social movements on clothing, with a section detailing caste conflict and dress change; another on impact of colonialism and capitalism on farmers; and one on the history of cricket and its connection with the politics of caste and community.
The KSSP statement said the present National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks were prepared as per the National Curriculum Framework.
Scientific understanding
They were aimed at providing students of social science not only facts but also train them to arrive at scientific understanding of the challenges faced by Indian society, investigate them, and suggest solutions and policies to address them and implement them.
The textbook looked at many prominent events and struggles from across the country and related them to general issues for a deeper insight. The move to omit the three chapters cut at the essence of the curriculum. The move was unscientific and those behind it did not have an understanding of the curriculum perspective. It was unfortunate that Prof. Yashpal’s recommendation to reduce the curriculum load was used as a weapon to eliminate the chapters. All secular and democratic forces and science and education activists should come forward to protest against the move, the KSSP said in a statement here on Thursday.
