The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has revised the curriculum of the school textbooks in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Since 2014, this is the fourth round of revision and updating of NCERT textbooks.
NCERT Director Dinesh Prasad Saklani asserted that the revision of the books is a global and annual exercise and the changes are advocated by subject and pedagogy experts. The changes are being made as many subjects had become irrelevant and there was a need of a new update in the books. He also emphasised that there is no interference or imposition from the top officials in this process.
Mr Saklani said, "Some changes have happened because the subjects were irrelevant, some to update new information while several topics were removed earlier to minimise burden on students caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and reduce duplication of content."
A high-level panel working on the Social Science curriculum recommended the following changes in the Social Science textbooks:
The panel suggested that 'India' should be replaced with 'Bharat' in school textbooks for all classes. Following this, NCERT director Mr Saklani noted that 'Bharat' and 'India' will be used interchangeably in NCERT textbooks as is the case in the country's Constitution.
Committee chairperson C I Isaac, who was heading the panel, also suggested for introducing 'classical history', instead of 'ancient history' in the curriculum, and including the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) in the syllabus for all subjects.
The revised Political Science textbooks for class 12 do not mention the Babri masjid but refer to it as a 'three-domed structure'.
Many sections have also been deleted from the book. These include BJP's 'rath yatra' from Somnath in Gujarat to Ayodhya; the role of kar sevaks; communal violence in the wake of the demolition of the Babri masjid; President's rule in BJP-ruled states; and the BJP's expression of 'regret over the happenings at Ayodhya'.
Recent studies of ancient DNA obtained from archaeological sources at Rakhigarhi, an Indus Valley site in Haryana, rule out Aryan immigration to a call for more research into whether the Harappans and the Vedic people were the same, several topics have either been dropped or tweaked in textbooks.
A two-page table detailing achievements of Mughal emperors such as Humayun, Shah Jahan, Akbar, Jahangir and Aurangzeb have also been removed.
The new Political Science textbook of Class 11, now says that political parties 'give priority to the interests of a minority group' with an eye on 'vote bank politics', which leads to 'minority appeasement'.