The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) is in a bind over what to teach students after the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) recently made changes to its social science textbooks. Kerala has consistently voiced its opposition to the changes, which it terms steps to distort history.
The NCERT had undertaken a syllabus rationalisation exercise in 2022, following which portions on the 2002 Gujarat riots and the Mughal period had been dropped from the Class 12 textbooks. The rationalisation, the NCERT was said, was conducted in the wake of COVID-19 disruptions and in tune with the National Education Policy (NEP).
The State then decided that it would adopt the content rationalisation for some subjects, but for Humanities subjects such as History and Political Science, portions such as the Mughal Empire or the 2002 Gujarat riots would be taught to students and questions would be set from these for the final examinations.
Deleted portions
Now though, deletions such as Hindu extremists’ dislike for Gandhi and a ban on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) after his assassination have been effected without declaring them in the public domain earlier.
Flaying the deletions, Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty said these were politically motivated and could not be justified. This denial of history by the Union government was unacceptable to the State.
Reprinted
In Kerala, the SCERT brings out its own textbooks from Classes 6 to 10, but for Classes 11 and 12 NCERT textbooks are used for subjects such as History, Political Science, Economics, Geography, and Science. These are reprinted with the NCERT’s permission.
The question now is can the SCERT avoid the deleted portions against the State’s stance on the issue or can it print the textbooks in full, including the deleted portions, and teach these to students.
As a result, printing of Class 11 and 12 textbooks is yet to begin. Officials say if the NCERT insists that the textbooks be followed, the State may find itself in a difficult position.
A precedent
Historian K.N. Ganesh said the SCERT could adapt the textbooks to the State’s requirements as 20% latitude is given to States in including its own content. There had been no change in this, including in the NEP. There was also a precedent for this. During the tenure of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, some changes to textbooks had been introduced by the Centre. The SCERT had then taken the decision to introduce its own textbook.
