THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  The communist government of Kerala has directed all state-run schools to restore chapters on the 2002 Gujarat riots, assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, Mughal justice delivery system and former Prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru’s contribution in India in the Class 12 text books.

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) had dropped the content from  Class 12 Political Science curriculum, citing rationalisation and over-burden on students last year in May.

“We will be implementing this decision effective September 1 in Kerala. The education minister has conveyed to us first orally direct the schools and a written order will be sent after Onam holidays,” K Jayaprakash, director, Kerala state education department told The New Indian.

The education department also confirmed that chapters on the evolution of Naxalite movement, Charles Darwin theory of evolution  will also be restored.

The move by the Vijayan government comes at a time when an Income-Tax bench has ruled that Rs 1.72 crore was given as kickback by a mining company to Kerala chief minister’s daughter Veena T.

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Earlier, in June, the Kerala government had expressed objections against NCERT for eliminating these chapters.

The printing order for the new text books will be placed at the end of this month.

“Curriculum committee has discussed the centre’s major deletions in the school syllabus and had formed a sub-committee to look into the matter and come up with a detailed plan. This committee has recommended the teaching of all these chapters in the schools under the general education department in Kerala”, State education minister V Shivan Kutty on Saturday in Kottayam.

Various student organizations of the Left, the Congress and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) have amplified the protests against the centre while saying that the objectionable portions were removed only because they critical towards the ideology of the ruling government.

“BJP government has been doing in this all Opposition -ruled states in the country. I feel all democratic forces should join hands and take up the matter”, Fathima Thahliya, Vice president of Muslim student federation, an affiliate-body of IUML,  told The New Indian.

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NCERT had announced its decision last year on the revision of its syllabus that include deletion of several passages from the text books for several other classes as well but many states were yet to implement it fully.

In May this year, it was UP Board and CBSE -board schools in Uttar Pradesh that were among the first to announce that they will no longer include the history of the Mughal courts in the schools, citing the atrocities committed by the Mughal emperors like Aurangzeb. 

The specific chapters and topics related to ‘Kings and Chronicles; the Mughal Courts (C 16th and 17th centuries) were therefore removed from history book ‘Themes of Indian History-Part II’ under its new rationalised syllabus to be taught in Class 12 from the academic session 2023-24.

 

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