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Controversy around NCERT textbooks' rationalisation 'unwarranted': JNU VC

The recent controversy around the rationalisation of NCERT textbooks is "unwarranted", said JNU vice-chancellor Santishree D Pandit on Friday, asserting that the revised syllabus must include new "discoveries and knowledge". Her remarks come a day after a group of academicians, who were part of the textbook development committees of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), wrote to the council demanding that their names be dropped from books as their "collective effort is in jeopardy". The recent developments after the rationalisation are part of the cancel culture where a section believes that what they say should be the last word and nobody else have the right to have an opinion, Pandit told PTI Video. A couple of days ago, a number of academicians and political scientists like Yogendra Yadav and Suhas Palshikar asked the NCERT to drop their names from textbooks over "several substantive revisions of the original texts". "The recent controversy on the NC

NCERT's textbooks rationalisation: UGC chief slams academicians' objections

On Thursday, 73 academicians, including VCs of central universities, NIT directors & IIM chairpersons, termed the withdrawal of names over the NCERT textbook row a "spectacle" by some

NCERT textbook row: Name withdrawal spectacle disrupts curriculum updation

Amid the row over removal of certain portions of syllabi by NCERT, as part of its exercise to reduce the content load among students, over 71 academicians have released a statement on false propaganda

Effort in jeopardy, drop our names from textbooks: Academicians to NCERT

Days after political scientists Yogendra Yadav and Suhas Palshikar wrote to the NCERT, asking their names to be dropped from textbooks, 33 academicians, who were part of the Textbook Development Committee (TDC), have written to the council, saying their collective creative effort is in jeopardy. The academicians have also demanded that their names be dropped from the textbooks. The signatories to a letter sent to NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani include Kanti Prasad Bajpai, a former JNU professor who currently serves as the vice dean at the National University, Singapore, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, a former vice-chancellor of the Ashoka University, Rajeev Bhargava, a former director of CSDS, Niraja Gopal Jayal, a former JNU professor, Nivedita Menon, a JNU professor, Vipul Mudgal, the head of civil society watchdog Common Cause, K C Suri, a former professor at the University of Hyderabad who is now associated with the Gitam University, and Peter Ronald deSouza, a former director of the Indian

Why does Yogendra Yadav want his name dropped from NCERT textbooks?

The recent rationalisation exercise conducted by the NCERT is at the heart of the controversy

Suhas Palshikar, Yogendra Yadav ask NCERT to drop their names as advisors

Political scientists Suhas Palshikar and Yogendra Yadav have asked the NCERT to drop their names as chief advisors from all political science textbooks, saying a rationalisation exercise has "mutilated" the books beyond recognition and rendered them "academically dysfunctional". Stating that they were embarrassed to be mentioned as chief advisors, Palshikar and Yadav have written to the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), saying the cuts in the textbooks were arbitrary and irrational. The NCERT, however, said the withdrawal of anyone's association is out of question as textbooks at the school level are developed on the basis of knowledge and understanding on a given subject and at no stage, individual authorship is claimed. Palshikar and Yadav, who were chief advisors for the original political science books for Classes 9 to 12, said, "While the modifications have been justified in the name of rationalisation, we fail to see any pedagogic rationale at wor

NCERT drops Khalistan's topic from class 12 political science textbook

The NCERT has dropped references to the demand for a separate Sikh nation Khalistan from the class 12 political science textbook following objections from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), according to education ministry officials. The SGPC had last month alleged that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) misrepresented historical details about Sikhs in its Class 12 political science textbook. The Sikh body's objection pertained to the mention of the Anandpur Sahib resolution in the book "Politics In India Since Independence". The dropped sentences are -- "the resolution was a plea for strengthening federalism but it could also be interpreted as a plea for a separate Sikh nation" and "the more extreme elements started advocating secession from India and the creation of 'Khalistan'". The statements have been rewritten as "the resolution was a plea for strengthening federalism". "Representation from SGPC was received regarding withdrawin

Misleading propaganda: MoS Education on removing Darwin's theory from NCERT

As part of its curriculum rationalisation exercise, the NCERT had last year announced that the chapter 'Heredity and Evolution' will be replaced with 'Heredity' in the Class 10 science textbook

Kerala likely to teach NCERT's omitted portions in schools syllabus

: Students in Kerala are likely to be taught the portions that the NCERT had deleted from its class 11 and 12 textbooks, including those pertaining to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and the ban on RSS. The NCERT recently had, in the name of rationalisation of the syllabus, dropped from its class 12 history textbook certain portions on Mahatma Gandhi and how his pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity "provoked Hindu extremists". It also left out the portion where the government placed a ban on the RSS after Gandhi's assassination. The revision of textbooks by obfuscating facts has triggered a row. The State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT), an autonomous body of the General Education Department, is considering a decision by its curriculum steering committee to include these deleted portions in the state syllabus. The committee, which met on Tuesday, has entrusted General Education Minister V Sivankutty with taking a final decision on the matter after consulting with the

Kerala govt to include NCERT omitted portions in state school syllabus

"The state government can print textbooks independently unless the Centre denies giving permission to teach these subjects. Teachers' unions also believe that the omitted lessons should be taught"

UGC, AICTE, NCERT must join hands to make framework for mapping skills: Min

The Centre is deliberating on ways to formalise skilling in the school education system, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Tuesday, asserting the UGC, AICTE and NCERT must come together to create a framework for mapping future skills. The minister also said "we need to de-link degrees from competency and envision a future where competency would prevail". Pradhan made the comments in an interaction with reporters here ahead of the 3rd G20 Education Working Group Meeting. "Deliberations are going on about how to formalise skilling in our school education system. Today, we discussed with the delegates from Singapore the way forward for a comprehensive and substantive partnership towards skilling," he said. The minister noted that the deliberations going on at G20 forum will aid the implementation of new National Education Policy by understanding and adopting best practices and global models. "The University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council of technical ...

References to Maulana Azad in class 11 textbook dropped in 2013: NCERT

The references to freedom fighter and India's first education minister Maulana Azad in class 11 NCERT textbook were dropped way back in 2013 and should not be linked to the curriculum rationalisation exercise undertaken last year, the National Council of Educational Research and Training has said. Certain references and subjects being quietly dropped from the new NCERT textbooks without any notification has kicked off a political controversy with the Opposition accusing the ruling BJP of "whitewashing with vengeance". The Congress, which was in power at the Centre in 2013, lashed out at the government last week over the removal of references to Azad in the new NCERT class 11 Political Science textbook, saying there is a concerted attempt to "re-write" history and pass on a "distorted legacy built on lies". A top NCERT official said, "While exploring the matter in earlier editions of the textbook, it was found that from 2014-15 onwards the name of Maulana Azad was not there in the ..

NCERT consulted 25 experts, 16 CBSE teachers for syllabus rationalisation

The NCERT consulted 25 external experts and 16 CBSE teachers to carry out its syllabus rationalisation exercise as part of which portions on the Mughals, Mahatma Gandhi, his assassin Nathuram Godse, reference to Hindu extremists and the 2002 Gujarat riots among others were dropped from school textbooks, according to the Education Ministry. Dropping several topics and portions from the NCERT textbooks has triggered a controversy with the Opposition blaming the Centre of "whitewashing with vengeance". At the heart of the row is the fact that while the changes made as part of the rationalisation exercise were notified, some of these controversial deletions weren't mentioned in them. This has led to allegations about a bid to delete these portions surreptitiously. The NCERT has described the omissions as a possible oversight but refused to undo the deletions, saying they were based on the recommendations of experts. It has also said the textbooks are anyway headed for revision in 2024 .

Congress criticises removal of Maulana Azad references from NCERT textbook

The Congress on Thursday lashed out at the government over the removal of references to India's first education minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad in the new NCERT class 11 political science textbook, saying there is a concerted attempt to "re-write" history and pass on a "distorted legacy built on lies". References to freedom fighter and India's first education minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad have been removed from the new class 11 political science textbook by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). Addressing a press conference on the issue at the AICC headquarters here, Congress spokesperson Anshul Avijit said there is a concerted attempt by this government to "re-write" history and pass on a "concocted, distorted legacy built on lies and untruth to the next generation". In the NCERT class 11 book of political science, Maulana Azad's name has been unceremoniously deleted which is a huge travesty of history, his name, stature, personality and contributio

NCERT textbook revision: Here's what has changed

According to media reports, the NCERT has carried out a ‘rationalisation’ exercise to reduce the curriculum load and help students recover from the learning setbacks caused by Covid.

Kerala demands reconstitution of NCERT with representatives from all states

Alleging the central government of pursuing a vested political interest rather than the academic interest he said Kerala will not use NCERT textbooks of 11th and 12th standards

Application window for CUET-UG reopens, no change in the syllabus

The application window for CUET-UG reopened Sunday for three days following representation from students and there will be no change in the syllabus after rationalisation of NCERT textbooks, officials said. "Following requests from several students, we have decided to re-open the application portal for CUET-UG on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday and it will close at 11.59 pm on Tuesday (11 April 2023). Students are requested to visit cuet.samarth.ac.in for more details," UGC Chairman Jagadesh Kumar said. Nearly 14 lakh students have applied for CUET-UG, up by 41 per cent since last year. Following rationalisation of NCERT books, aspirants of undergraduate entrance exams were confused about whether it will impact the entrances. "The notified syllabus will remain the same as the exam is not just for students from a particular board. Not all boards have rationalised the content," a senior National Testing Agency (NTA) official said. CUET-UG remains the second-largest entrance exam in the

Textbooks not revised to please or offend anyone: NCERT chief Saklani

The recent changes in textbooks are purely based on the recommendations made by experts, said NCERT Director Dinesh Prasad Saklani.

Whitewashing with a vengeance: Congress over deletions from NCERT textbooks

The Congress on Wednesday hit out at the government over some texts missing from NCERT's new class 12 textbooks, including Mahatma Gandhi's pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity irking the right-wing and the ban on the RSS for some time, and called it "whitewashing with a vengeance". The NCERT, however, claims that no curriculum trimming has happened this year and the syllabus was rationalised last year in June. "Gandhiji's death had a magical effect on communal situation in the country", "Gandhiji's pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity provoked Hindu extremists", "organisations like RSS were banned for some time", "communal politics began to lose its appeal"--these are among the texts missing from class 12 political science textbooks for the new academic session. Tagging a media report on it, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter, "Whitewashing with a vengeance." Tagging another report which claimed that chapters related to the Mughals and Dalit writers have also been axed fro

'Historical' changes: Here is what the NCERT has dropped from text books

In June last year, NCERT issued a list of deletions to the syllabus to help students make up the losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic but the actual changes seem wider than the proposed changes