Kerala to Add Deleted Portions from NCERT Books to Supplementary Textbooks

The Kerala State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has sought the state government’s agreement to prepare and distribute textbooks to teach portions that were omitted in Class 11 and 12 prepared by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). Yesterday, SCERT conducted a committee meeting to discuss the addition of topics that were excluded by NCERT. They also discussed the options of preparing supplementary textbooks for students.

Meanwhile, the content, excluded by NCERT from the History and Political Science textbooks, carried portions on the history of the Mughal Empire, the Gujarat riots, and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

According to media reports, the committee has authorised Minister for General Education V Sivankutty to plan and discuss the matter with the state government and to take a decision on it. The final call will be taken by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The SCERT curriculum steering committee discussed in detail the “unjustifiable” omissions for Classes 11 and 12 on Tuesday. The committee further expressed anger over the removal of chapters and asserted that the chapters which were omitted in the name of rationalisation should be retained in the state.

“The omission of certain portions in history, political science, economics, and sociology are unjustifiable. The curriculum committee is of the opinion that these omitted portions should be retained in Kerala by distributing supplementary textbooks,” said SCERT director M Jayachandran, as per Times of India report. He further stated that the textbooks can be prepared and printed in a couple of months as well. So that, these supplementary books will reach students latest by August, this year, Jayachandran added.

Before SCERT could formally begin the work on the supplementary books, the committee wanted the general education minister to discuss the matter with the Chief Minister and seek his consent. During the meeting, Sivankutty slammed NCERT and the Union government for changing content in school books with political motives, reports stated.

Furthermore, NCERT has omitted portions in textbooks from Classes 6 to 12, but the omissions for Classes up to 10 don’t make much of a difference for Kerala as they depend on NCERT textbooks only for Classes 11 and 12.

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