By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Describing cuts in NCERT textbooks as “arbitrary” and “irrational,” Suhas Palshikar and Yogendra Yadav, who were chief advisors for the original Political Science books for classes 9 to 12, have written to the NCERT director, saying the rationalisation exercise has “mutilated” the books and rendered them “academically dysfunctional.”
The duo have also asked the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to drop their names and disassociate themselves as chief advisors from all Political Science textbooks as they were never consulted or informed before the cuts were made.
Palshikar, an academician and political scientist, and Yadav, a political scientist and Swaraj India leader, were chief advisors for the Political Science books for classes 9 to 12 originally published in 2006-07 based on the 2005 version of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF).
Their names are mentioned in a “letter to students” and the list of textbook development teams at the beginning of each book.
“As academics originally associated with the preparation of these textbooks, we are embarrassed that our names should be mentioned as chief advisors to these mutilated and academically dysfunctional textbooks,” said a letter written to NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani.
“While the modifications have been justified in the name of rationalisation, we fail to see any pedagogic rationale at work here. We find that the text has been mutilated beyond recognition. There are innumerable and irrational cuts and large deletions without any attempts to fill the gaps created,” it said.
The duo stated that they were “never consulted or even informed of these changes. If NCERT did consult other experts for deciding on these cuts and deletions, we explicitly state that we fully disagree with them in this regard.”
“We believe that any text has an internal logic and such arbitrary cuts and deletions violate the spirit of the text. The frequent and serial deletions do not seem to have any logic except to please the powers that be,” the letter dated June 8 said.
It said that the “textbooks cannot and should not be shaped in this blatantly partisan manner and should not quell the spirit of critique and questioning among students of social sciences. These textbooks, as they stand now, do not serve the purpose of training students of political science both the principles of politics and the broad patterns of political dynamics that have occurred over time.”
The two experts said that they “wish to explicitly record our full disagreement with the entire process of reshaping the text in the name of rationalisation.”
They requested the NCERT director to give effect to their request immediately and ensure that their names are not used in the soft copies of the textbooks available at the NCERT websites and also in the subsequent print editions.
A controversy broke out last month after it was found that NCERT has deleted several topics and portions.
The NCERT director told this paper that the changes were made as part of rationalisation so that students are not burdened due to Covid-19. However, references to Mahatma Gandhi, RSS, Gujarat riots, and Nathuram Godse were deleted but were not notified by NCERT.
The NCERT director said the omissions were a possible oversight but refused to undo the deletions, saying they were based on the recommendations of an expert committee.
It also said the textbooks are anyway headed for revision in 2024 when the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) comes in. However, the NCERT later changed its stand and said “Minor changes need not be notified.”
NEW DELHI: Describing cuts in NCERT textbooks as “arbitrary” and “irrational,” Suhas Palshikar and Yogendra Yadav, who were chief advisors for the original Political Science books for classes 9 to 12, have written to the NCERT director, saying the rationalisation exercise has “mutilated” the books and rendered them “academically dysfunctional.”
The duo have also asked the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to drop their names and disassociate themselves as chief advisors from all Political Science textbooks as they were never consulted or informed before the cuts were made.
Palshikar, an academician and political scientist, and Yadav, a political scientist and Swaraj India leader, were chief advisors for the Political Science books for classes 9 to 12 originally published in 2006-07 based on the 2005 version of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF).googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
Their names are mentioned in a “letter to students” and the list of textbook development teams at the beginning of each book.
“As academics originally associated with the preparation of these textbooks, we are embarrassed that our names should be mentioned as chief advisors to these mutilated and academically dysfunctional textbooks,” said a letter written to NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani.
“While the modifications have been justified in the name of rationalisation, we fail to see any pedagogic rationale at work here. We find that the text has been mutilated beyond recognition. There are innumerable and irrational cuts and large deletions without any attempts to fill the gaps created,” it said.
The duo stated that they were “never consulted or even informed of these changes. If NCERT did consult other experts for deciding on these cuts and deletions, we explicitly state that we fully disagree with them in this regard.”
“We believe that any text has an internal logic and such arbitrary cuts and deletions violate the spirit of the text. The frequent and serial deletions do not seem to have any logic except to please the powers that be,” the letter dated June 8 said.
It said that the “textbooks cannot and should not be shaped in this blatantly partisan manner and should not quell the spirit of critique and questioning among students of social sciences. These textbooks, as they stand now, do not serve the purpose of training students of political science both the principles of politics and the broad patterns of political dynamics that have occurred over time.”
The two experts said that they “wish to explicitly record our full disagreement with the entire process of reshaping the text in the name of rationalisation.”
They requested the NCERT director to give effect to their request immediately and ensure that their names are not used in the soft copies of the textbooks available at the NCERT websites and also in the subsequent print editions.
A controversy broke out last month after it was found that NCERT has deleted several topics and portions.
The NCERT director told this paper that the changes were made as part of rationalisation so that students are not burdened due to Covid-19. However, references to Mahatma Gandhi, RSS, Gujarat riots, and Nathuram Godse were deleted but were not notified by NCERT.
The NCERT director said the omissions were a possible oversight but refused to undo the deletions, saying they were based on the recommendations of an expert committee.
It also said the textbooks are anyway headed for revision in 2024 when the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) comes in. However, the NCERT later changed its stand and said “Minor changes need not be notified.”
