Delhi state rejects NCERT books

The Delhi state government has decided not to introduce the new National Council for Educatio-nal Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks this academic year.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said she had taken this decision with the convenience of children in mind.

The NCERT books released recently include social science books for classes 6 and 9 and Hindi books for classes 1, 3, 6, 9 and 11. The class 11 history book is yet to be made available. The Supreme Court had stayed its release after some historians approached it alleging factual errors and misrepresentations in the texts.

Says Ameeta Mulla Wattal, principal, Springdales School, Pusa Road: "A study of the text books of history, geography, civics and economics show that they have been put together in a shoddy manner.

"The history sections are full of gross grammatical errors, incorrect facts and a definite slant towards a particular political agenda. Distortions in the writing of India's history will go against the very spirit of its existence which is multicultural and multiplural."

A history teacher pointed out that books had discrepancies such as: King Harsha was a Shaivite and that housing societies had begun in the Neolithic Age. Also, in the book on modern India, Mahatma Gandhi's assassination had been completely omitted.

Admitting to factual errors, NCERT chairman J.S. Rajput said the publication of these books was done under great pressure by court litigation. Defending the new history books as flawless, he said these were based on contemporary historical research.

The board, nevertheless, said it was open to constructive suggestions and admitted "printing mistakes", which were being rectified.

Says Amarjit Narang, professor of political science, Indira Gandhi National Open Univer-sity (Ignou), "I have myself been involved in NCERT book writing for political science for senior levels. The concerned faculty of NCERT identifies the author and the manuscript is reviewed by a committee consisting of teachers from universities and schools from all over India."

According to him the committee goes through the language, difficulty level and contents in relation to the prescribed syllabus. Narang found the system useful but was unable to comment on the procedure adopted for the books under discussion.

City schools, at the time, are faced with the dilemma on whether to include the NCERT books in their present curriculum. With just four months of the session left, schools maintain that it is unfair to expect the children to start with new books.

They alleged that the books did not amount to reduction in the curriculum load, despite reduction in the number of pages.

In schools like Blue Bells, Ramjas and Summerfields, first term examinations are already over. While some schools felt that it was not practical to expect children to buy new books at this stage, others considered not burdening the children at this juncture.

Says I.S. Narang, principal, Guru Harkishan Public School, India Gate, "We have deferred introduction of the new text books for the time being. And have yet to go into depth regarding errors in the books."

According to Wattal of Springdales, discussions were being held with schools to bring about awareness of new textbooks so that a common consensus could be reached. "Our attempt will be to persuade the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to prescribe a new set of books for history, in a manner similar to the English course in class 9," she said.

Meanwhile, certain women's organisations have alleged gender bias in textbooks. They have requested the Supreme Court to reconsider its views on the social science books, which tended to re-emphasise the conservative positions on the roles and identity of women.

"There have been innumerable progressive and educated women who have often moulded the course of history in India. But in the history text book of class 9 there has been no mention of the women involved with the freedom struggle," says Wattal.

The NCERT's curriculum format of 1988 specifically recommended that the social sciences, including history, be taught in an integrated and thematic way. That would not only reduce the burden, but also spur the student's interest in the country's past, present and future.

The need drastically to change the course content of the social sciences was also suggested in 1991 by the Yash Pal committee on curriculum load. But no action was taken on this.

Unfortunately, a few days ahead of the new academic year, the new books were introduced and subsequently the Supreme Court was approached. The process took several months to reach its logical end. And millions of students had to suffer due to non-availability of new books. The fight is still on.