Deletions and modifications in NCERT textbooks have been “necessitated to harmonise understanding of different perspectives” and contents of textbooks “have been modified to help students build a positive mindset”, MoS for Education Jayant Chaudhary said in Lok Sabha Monday in response to a question on textbook revisions.
MPs Selvaraj V and Subbarayan K of CPI and V K Sreekandan of the Congress had asked whether revisions had been made in NCERT textbooks of history and political science for classes 9 to 12 since 2016, and if yes, what were the changes.
Some key changes made in class 12 political science NCERT textbooks this year are — no mention of Babri Masjid (it’s called a ‘three-domed structure’), pruned Ayodhya chapter from four to two pages, deleted details of BJP’s rath yatra from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya, the role of kar sevaks in Ayodhya agitation, communal violence in the wake of the demolition of Babri Masjid, President’s Rule in BJP-ruled states, and the BJP’s expression of “regret over the happenings in Ayodhya”.
In the revised class 12 history textbook, a chapter on origins and fall of Harappan civilisation includes an assertion that recent studies of ancient DNA obtained from archaeological sources at Rakhigarhi, an Indus Valley site in Haryana, rule out Aryan immigration and calls for more research into whether the Harappans and the Vedic people were the same.
The modified class 11 political science textbook says vote bank politics in India is associated with “minority appeasement” and this means that political parties “disregard the principles of equality for all citizens and give priority to the interests of a minority group”. The earlier version of the textbook did not include “minority appeasement”.
In his response to the question, Chaudhary said during the Covid-19 outbreak, students struggled to continue their learning online and concerns related to curriculum load “including the content load spread over syllabi and textbooks had been raised from different corners”.
“Therefore, NCERT rationalised and updated content of textbooks, as per extant procedures, across grades and subjects in 2021-22. Specific criteria were also developed for rationalisation of content load, including overlapping content, high difficulty level etc. These textbooks are continuing from 2022-23 session. Subsequently, some updates have been included in 2023-24 due to evolution of knowledge, facts and their interpretations,” he said.
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