2002 Gujarat Riots, Mughal Courts Likely To Be Taught in Kerala Schools

The NCERT received criticism for removing such content, claiming overlaps with similar texts

It is likely that Kerala will teach portions on the 2002 Gujarat riots and the Mughal era, which were initially dropped from Class 12 textbooks by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), The Hindu reported.

In the wake of COVID 19 and in accord with the National Education Policy, the NCERT conducted a syllabus rationalisation exercises for Classes 6 through to 12.

Subsequently, they received criticism for removing content, claiming overlaps with similar texts, irrelevant portions or which could be learnt by self-teaching.

Unlike Classes 6 to 10, for which the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) releases its own textbooks, NCERT textbooks are used in Classes 11 and 12 doe subjects like History, Economics, Political Science and Geography, among others.

Since the NCERT removed certain portions, the Kerala SCERT embarked on an exercise to conclude whether the content excluded by the NCERT should yet be taught within the state, the report added.

In the Class 12 Political Science textbook, pages containing content on the ‘Gujarat Riots’ were excluded from a chapter called ‘Recent developments in Indian politics.’

It further removed the mention of the National Human Rights Commission report on the violence in Gujarat and also excluded a ‘Raj Dharma’ comment by former-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Photographs of newspaper reports during the violence were also removed.

However, the Kerala SCERT recommended the General Education Department that the portion be retained for students within the state, The Hindu added.

Moreover, a full chapter on Mughal courts, from the Class 12 History textbook, had been removed by the NCERT. The SCERT has recommended that some portions of the chapter, ‘Kings and Chronicles; the Mughal Courts’ also be taught to students in the state.

While the NCERT also removed content for science subjects as well, the SCERT recommended that these portions not be taught since national entrance exams such as NEET and JEE are based on similar syllabi, and that any reduction in the NCERT’s textbooks will not affect students preparing for these examinations.

Recommendations from the SCERT are set to be discussed by respective subject sub-committees, and their decisions will be ratified by the curriculum steering committee before the changes are adopted.

(With inputs from The Hindu)