A group of 106 academicians, including vice-chancellors and professors of eminent universities, have issued a statement condemning the deliberate attempts to malign the NCERT and to disrupt the much-needed process for curriculum updation in the past three months. The statement comes in response to the row over the rationalisation of NCERT textbooks.
The statement calls on intellectuals, academicians and concerned citizens to sign the statement to “expose arrogant and self-interested academicians” who wish to “derail the implementation of NEP 2020 and much-needed and long overdue updation” of the school curriculum.
The statement said, “Academicians trying to capture media attention through this name-withdrawal spectacle seem to have forgotten that textbooks are an outcome of collective intellectual engagement and rigorous efforts.” Notably, Prof Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, Vice Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Prof Dhananjay Singh, Member Secretary, ICSSR; Prof Shambhu Nath Singh, Vice Chancellor, Tezpur Central University; Prof Heeraman Tiwari, Professor and Chairperson, CHS, JNU; Prof Shrinivasa Varakhedi, Vice-Chancellor, Central Sanskrit; Prof R P Tiwari, Central University of Punjab; Prof Sushma Yadav, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Central University of Haryana, have also signed the statement.
Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav and political scientist Suhas Palshikhar wrote to NCERT seeking the removal of their names as chief advisors of Political Science textbooks from Class 9 to 12. They wrote, “If NCERT did consult other experts for deciding on these cuts and deletions, we explicitly state that we fully disagree with them in this regard.”
The two academicians wrote, “As academics who were naturally involved in the creation of these textbooks, we are ashamed that our names should be mentioned as primary advisors to these mangled and academically dysfunctional textbooks. We want to make it clear that we completely oppose the process of changing the text in the guise of rationalisation.” The row over the rationalisation of NCERT textbooks intensified after 33 academicians, who were a part of the NCERT’s textbook development committee for the books drafted in 2006-07, sought for removal of their names from the updated textbooks.
The statement lists seven points in response to the ongoing row over the rationalisation of NCERT textbooks. The statement submits that the scholars who have suggested the changes in the NCERT textbooks have not suggested any “epistemic rupture in the existing domain of knowledge,” but they have just rationalised the course content as per contemporary knowledge needs. Furthermore, the statement states that “every new generation has the right to make additions/deletion to the existing knowledge base.”
The statement submits that the current committee cannot add anything without following the prescribed process and that the process of selecting scholars for this task was “thoroughly liberal, democratic and humanistic.” The statement further stated that this selection process of authors was far more transparent and ethically justified compared to the previous times.
The academicians wrote concerning the issues pertaining to “academic freedom, pedagogic integrity, and institutional propriety,” that the Director NCERT had clarified to them that a rigorous process was followed in the interest of maintaining high standards.
The statement highlights that the school curriculum was last updated in 2006, which was almost two decades ago. “The current NCERT team has been making consistent efforts for reducing the burden on students and improving learning outcomes by rationalising the syllabus and making the content relevant according to current needs,” the statement read.
The academicians highlight that attempts are being made to “derail the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP 2020) and disrupt the updation of NCERT textbooks” through misinformation, rumours, and false allegations. Furthermore, the academicians claim that the intellectuals demand that students continue to study 17-year-old textbooks instead of updated textbooks in sync with contemporary developments and pedagogical advancement, revealing their intellectual arrogance.
The statement states, “In their quest to further their political agenda, they are ready to endanger the future of crores of children across the country. While students are eagerly awaiting updated textbooks, these academicians are continuing to create hurdles and derail the entire process.”
Rationalisation of NCERT Textbooks
The NCERT was tasked with the rationalisation of textbooks across classes and subjects. The NCERT decided to rationalise textbooks due to overlaps with similar content in other subjects in the same class, or with lower or higher classes. The other factors were the ease of availability of the content which does not require assistance from teachers, the level of difficulty and the relevance in the present context.
Furthermore, the rationalisation of textbooks was proposed to reflect the changing realities and update the textbooks to keep up with contemporary developments and pedagogical advancements. The textbooks are also being rationalised to be in accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasises reducing the content load and providing opportunities for experimental learning with a creative mindset. The Covid-19 pandemic was another reason which prompted the rationalisation of textbooks, which is to facilitate a “speedy recovery in the learning continuum and compensating time loss of students.”
