The Director of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), Dinesh Prasad Saklani, clarified that chapters on Mughals were not ‘dropped’ from CBSE books, dismissing it as a “lie”. Saklani explained that there was a rationalisation process carried out last year due to the pressures posed by the COVID-19 pandemic on students everywhere, according to an official statement.
Expert committees were tasked with examining the books from standards 6-12, and they recommended that certain chapters could be dropped without affecting the students’ knowledge and reducing unnecessary burdens. Saklani emphasised that the ongoing debate on this matter is unnecessary, and urged those who are uninformed to check the textbooks for themselves. Overall, the NCERT director sought to dispel misconceptions and provide clarity on the situation, the statement mentioned.
“Students still study Mughal history in NCERT’s class 7 book, as well as in class 11 and 12 books. One chapter was removed last year, but Mughal history is still being taught in class 11 section-2 and class 12 theme eight. No chapters have been removed this year. So, Mughal history continues to be part of the curriculum in various class levels” Saklani claimed. Furthermore, “We are following theNational Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which emphasises reducing content load in education. We are currently in a transition phase and working towards finalising the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for school education. Textbooks will be printed in 2024 in accordance with NEP, and we are committed to implementing its principles. No content has been dropped at this time,” he added.
With inputs from ANI.