KOLKATA: More than 73 academicians said on Friday that false propaganda is being spread against the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
The move comes soon after academicians wrote to the NCERT asking them to drop their names from the textbooks amid a row over the revision of the original syllabus.
The 73 academicians, which include vice-chancellors of central universities, stated that the syllabus has become much more transparent following the revision.
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M Jagadesh Kumar, chairman of the University Grants Commission, told The New Indian, “In the recent past, some academicians attacked NCERT for revising the textbooks. This was unwarranted. The current textbook modifications are not the only ones carried out. NCERT has been revising textbooks from time to time in the past too. NCERT is fully justified in carrying out the rationalisation of its textbook contents.”
“NCERT has repeatedly stated that the revision of textbooks originates from various stakeholders’ feedback and suggestions. NCERT has also confirmed that it is developing a new set of textbooks based on the recently launched National Curriculum Framework for School Education,” Kumar said, while adding that the contents have been rationalised to reduce the academic load, which is only a temporary phase.
Speaking about the 33 academicians who had earlier written to NCERT, Kumar said, “There is no merit in the hue and cry of these academicians. The objective behind their grumbling seems to be other than academic reasons.”
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The 33 academicians who are a part of the Textbook Development Committee (TDC) wrote to the council, expressing discontent. Further, all these academicians also demanded their names be dropped from the textbooks.
Their decision was followed by two former NCERT advisors, Yogendra Yadav and Suhas Palshikar, who detached themselves from the council.
In a late-night statement issued on Thursday, the group of 73 academicians accused their counterparts, who had requested the removal of their names from the textbooks, of seeking publicity and disregarding the fact that textbooks are the result of collaborative intellectual engagement and rigorous efforts.
Highlighting the lack of updates in the Indian school curriculum for nearly two decades, the academicians stated, “The textbooks were last updated in 2006. The current NCERT team has been consistently working to reduce the students’ burden and improve learning outcomes by rationalising the syllabus and making the content relevant to present-day requirements.”
They further asserted that the scholars proposing the textbook changes were not suggesting any significant disruption in existing knowledge, but rather rationalising the course content in line with contemporary knowledge needs. Regarding the decision-making process on what is deemed acceptable or desirable, they argued that each new generation has the right to make additions or deletions to the existing knowledge base.
The signatories to the statement included prominent figures such as Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU); Suresh Kumar, Vice-Chancellor of the English and Foreign Languages University; Sanjay Srivastava, Vice-Chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi Central University, Motihari; Shambhu Nath Singh, Vice-Chancellor of Tezpur Central University; Shrinivasa Varakhedi, Vice-Chancellor of Central Sanskrit University; Sushma Yadav, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Haryana; Prakash Mani Tripathi, Vice-Chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Tribal University; and B Das, Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Jharkhand, among others.
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