The Kerala government’s revised school curriculum, which includes portions that have been removed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), will be introduced in schools after the Onam vacation in September, Minister for General Education V Sivankutty said on Saturday, August 12.
Sivankutty said the new curriculum under the Kerala State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) will bring back deleted portions including references to Jawaharlal Nehru and Mughal emperors, the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, the 2002 Gujarat riots, and more. Portions removed from Economics and Science textbooks will also be re-introduced.
“Kerala’s curriculum committee formed a sub-committee, held comprehensive discussions, and arrived at the conclusion that several portions the NCERT had removed from textbooks were of significance, and hence should be taught to students in the state. The new textbooks have already been prepared,” he told media persons. The curriculum is expected to change for students from pre-primary to higher secondary classes, replacing the NCERT syllabus the state has so far followed.
Though there were speculations that the new portions would be limited to additional reading, the minister clarified that is not the case. “They will be a proper part of the syllabus and not just complementary readings. Students will have to study them for their exams, because only then would they find the drive to read about it and understand their history,” he added.
Besides being accused of attempting to rewrite history by deleting key events of India’s past from school textbooks, and in turn from students’ psyche, the NCERT had also come under fire for removing subjects such as evolution from science textbooks, and even chapters on the periodic table and several climate-related topics for various classes.