June 17th 2024.
In the midst of the ongoing debate surrounding the revision of NCERT textbooks, Jairam Ramesh, a prominent Congress leader, made a strong accusation on Monday. He claimed that the institution has been under the influence of RSS since 2014 and is now launching an attack on the Constitution. Ramesh took to X to express his concerns, stating that the National Testing Agency (NTA) is trying to shift the blame for the "grace marks" controversy in NEET 2024 onto NCERT.
According to Ramesh, this is simply a diversion tactic from the NTA's own shortcomings. He further elaborated, "It is evident that the NCERT is no longer functioning as a professional educational institute. It has become an RSS affiliate and recent revelations have shown that its revised Class XI political science textbook condemns the concept of secularism and criticizes the policies of political parties in this regard."
Ramesh continued to express his disappointment, stating that the primary objective of NCERT should be to produce high-quality textbooks for students, not to spread political propaganda. "It is alarming to see NCERT, an institution responsible for shaping the minds of our young generation, attacking the very foundation of our country's Constitution. Secularism is an integral part of our basic structure, as established by various Supreme Court rulings," he remarked.
The Congress leader emphasized that NCERT should not forget its identity as the National Council for Educational Research and Training, and not the Nagpur or Narendra Council for Educational Research and Training. He also raised concerns about the declining quality of the textbooks, stating that they are vastly different from the ones he studied in school.
Saket Gokhale, a leader of the TMC, also criticized NCERT, calling the NDA 1.0 government "shameless" for hiding "inconvenient facts" from students. He questioned the logic behind removing references to the Gujarat riots and Babri masjid demolition from the textbooks, asking, "If we follow this logic, why teach students about other 'violent and depressing' events like the World War? Are the BJP and Modi ashamed of their history as criminals and rioters? Why hide the truth from students?"
In response to accusations of saffronisation of the school curriculum, the director of NCERT, Dinesh Prasad Saklani, stated in an interaction with PTI editors that changes in textbooks are a part of the annual revision process and should not be blown out of proportion. He defended the decision to omit references to riots, saying that teaching about such events can lead to creating "violent and depressed citizens."
Saklani further explained, "Is it our goal to teach students in a way that they become offensive, spread hatred, or become victims of hatred? Should we be teaching about riots in school textbooks? Let them grow up and understand the reasons behind such events. The outcry over these changes is irrelevant." Clearly, the director believes that teaching about sensitive topics such as riots should be left to a later stage in a student's education.
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