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 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 statement mentioned.
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 when the National Curriculum Framework kicks in, the statement said.
“Aside from NCERT in-house experts, NCERT sought the expertise of subject experts from Universities/Organisations and practising teachers in all its activities related to Research, Development, Training and Extension for wider consultation,” the ministry had said in response to a written question in Lok Sabha.
For the political science textbook, the NCERT held two rounds of consultation with four experts. They were Vanthangpui Khobung, an assistant professor of political science at the NCERT’s Regional Institute of Education in Bhopal; Maneesha Pandey who teaches the subject at Hindu College and school teachers Kavita Jain and Sunita Kathuria, the statement added.
With inputs from PTI.