BY THE EDITOR
One of the chief tasks of National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is preparation of school textbooks for students of different grades in compliance with National Education Policy (NEP)-2020. Academicians and persons with wide experience in their fields of specialisation have been chosen for the task who accordingly with sincerity and dedication have performed their jobs satisfactorily. But soon after these experts noticed that quite a number of changes were made or omitted without informing or consulting them which they rightly felt was unethical. Consequently feeling their collective hard work to be inconsequential and their image at stake so 33 of them told NCERT to drop their names from textbooks. List of experts include professors of prestigious institutions, vice-chancellors of famous universities and well-known institutes. In a letter to the NCER political scientists Yogendra Yadav and Suhas Palshikar said that their work was “mutilated” beyond recognition and thus rendered “academically dysfunction-nal” as a result of which they have now become a source of embarrassment.
NCERT acknowledged that omissions were due to possible oversight but refused to undo the deletions saying that they were based on recommendations of experts. It has however added that textbooks will anyway be revised in 2024 when the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) will be finalised. Later it changed its stand and said “minor changes need not be notified”. Dropping of several topics and portions from NCERT textbooks triggered controversy with Opposition blaming the BJP-led Centre for such damage which will affect students. The UGC (University Grants Commission) Chairman Jagadesh Kumar hit out at the academicians who were members of Textbook Development Committee (TDC) objecting to rationalisation of NCERT textbooks saying that there is no merit at all in their statement. He added that these grumbling experts had some reasons other than academic ones which only they themselves know and therefore unwarranted. It may be noted that NCERT has been writing and revising textbooks from time to time in the past too. Interestingly as many as 73 academicians including vice-chancellors of central universities and directors of central institutions have termed withdrawal of names over NCERT textbooks as a “spectacle” by some arrogant and self-interested people. Amidst controversies the common people are getting confused about the role of education in general and NCERT in particular and hence there should be clear-cut instructions from the Centre before greater damage is done.
Besides the controversies that came out in the open it is learnt that there are also some of the controversial deletions which were not mentioned. This led to speculation that there is a hidden agenda in the matter and it is therefore right and proper that the government should come out clear on the issue before the matter escalates creating suspicions and distrust in the minds of common citizens. Swami Vivekananda said, ”Everything can be sacrificed for truth, but truth cannot be sacrificed for anything.”