Kerala textbooks to retain sections deleted by NCERT

The books for Class 11 and 12 students of Kerala will also touch upon the issue of poverty and include the latest report of the Global Hunger Index

Kerala’s new school textbooks of history, political science, sociology and economics have portions that were recently deleted by the NCERT. Photo: scert.kerala.gov.in

The Mughal era and Akbarnama, which chronicles the reigns of King Akbar and his predecessors, feature prominently in the soon-to-be-released supplementary textbooks for Class 11 and 12 students of Kerala.

Besides the Mughal era, the history textbook will touch upon topics such as Middle Ages, cultural formation, the Age of Discoveries and Inventions, and the history of partition.

The new textbooks of history, political science, sociology and economics have portions that were recently deleted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

The books will give students an idea of poverty and famine in India, the reasons for continuation of poverty, and alleviation of poverty. The latest report of the Global Hunger Index has also been included in the textbook, sources said.

Incidentally, India’s ranking at 107th position in the index in 2022, out of 121 countries, had irked the Ministry of Women and Child Development, which termed the report as part of a consistent effort to taint India’s image.

The sociology textbook covers social institutions including caste, social change and development, and history of communal riots and atrocities committed against certain communities. Concepts on human rights and landmark decisions of the Supreme Court will also be taught.

Rajan Gurukkal, a leading historian, felt the removal of certain periods of history from the textbooks will render only a truncated understanding of the past and comprehension of history as a continuous process would be lost. Reinstating them will help children understand history as a secular subject without any communal divisiveness and prejudices that are part of the agenda of the national government, he said.

However, C.I. Isaac, the chairman of the NCERT’s curriculum committee on sociology, felt Mughal history was excessively taught while the history of many Hindu Kings who defeated the Mughals, has been ignored. Some portions of the books were edited to accommodate the so far obfuscated history of the country and to present a balanced version of history including that of post-Independence period, he said.