NCERT textbook deletions: Kerala Education Minister writes to PM Modi seeking review

Expressing concern over the NCERT's decision to drop key chapters and portions from the textbooks in the name of rationalisation, he said it should be reviewed at the earliest.

Earlier, the Education Department of the Kerala government decided to continue teaching the chapters deleted from the NCERT textbooks of classes XI and XII. According to reports, the State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT Kerala) will instruct the schools to include the portions deleted from history books issued by NCERT.

After NCERT carried out the changes in its textbooks in April as a part of its syllabus rationalisation, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan slammed the Central government over the move.

Reportedly, the curriculum committee of SCERT took the stand that the deleted portions should be taught to the students in Kerala and supplementary textbooks will be released by SCERT soon.

SCERT has even sought permission from the state government before preparing and distributing supplementary textbooks dealing with the content excluded in NCERT’s Class 11 and Class 12 textbooks.

Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty will decide whether the deleted portions, mainly pertaining to history, should be taught by introducing supplementary textbooks.

The chapters that have been dropped by the NCERT from the history and political science textbooks include the portions assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, Mughal courts, 2002 communal riots in Gujarat, the Naxalite movement, and Dalit writers.

While addressing a public meeting last week, V Sivankutty indicated that the state can print its own books if the Central government denies permission to teach omitted chapters. The minister had also expressed his strong reservations over NCERT’s move. He said, “Kerala will always uphold secular and constitutional values. We firmly believe omitted portions should be taught in schools. You cannot twist history like this. We are examining how to teach them. We can print textbooks independently.”

Going by the education minister’s recent comments, it looks like SCERT will get the green light to introduce supplementary textbooks on the omitted chapters.

Earlier this month, as many as 250 historians from leading Indian and foreign universities had also issued a public statement against NCERT’s contentious move to drop certain chapters from its social science, history, and political science textbooks of Classes 6 to 12.