State syllabus textbooks are not learner-centric: NCERT

They do not provide conceptual knowledge to students, says council

The National Council of Educational Research and Training has reviewed textbooks from classes 1 to 10.

The State syllabus textbooks have come under scathing criticism from the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

The council, which reviewed textbooks from classes 1 to 10, has dubbed the content as lacking activities that demand critical thinking, not being learner-centric, burdening children for rote memorisation, and not providing any conceptual knowledge.

This comes close on the heels of another controversy when a section of BJP leaders opposed the distribution of textbooks — prepared by the textbook revision committee headed by Baraguru Ramachandrappa — to students for the 2017-18 academic year. The committee was formed to review textbooks prepared during the BJP government’s regime in the State and were alleged to have “saffron” contents. Irked by this, BJP leaders approached the Ministry of Human Resource Development seeking it to direct the NCERT to review the textbooks.

The NCERT has analysed only English version of the books. Though the NCERT analysis says there is no bias in terms of gender and environment across the textbooks developed in 2017, it goes on to state that the books lack tasks or activities that would sensitise students to these concerns.

Much more needs to be done

Another observation made by the council is that there is a need for more extensive examples that help children connect with the day-to-day experiences. The council has also found some grammatical and spelling errors.

The council analysed if these books were framed as per the National Curriculum Framework and there were subject specific groups. The groups were given guidelines and asked to examine if the books had adopted learner-centric approach, spaces for learner’s day-to-day experiences/contexts, curriculum load, inclusion, environmental concerns and Constitutional values. The council has, however, praised the editing and illustrations in certain subject books for being age appropriate.