Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Textbook row unjustified, say academics

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Educationalists and heads of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) from various States have described the ongoing controversy over the contents of class VII social science textbook in the State as “unjustified” and “disturbing.”

Rohit Dhankar, educationist from Rajasthan involved in the designing of the National Curriculum Frame Work 2005 (NCF), said the controversial chapter in the textbook where a headmaster quizzes a couple regarding the religion and caste of their son in the presence of the child and their consequent reply that it is for the child to decide when he grows up as “absolutely in line” with the NCF.

The NCF is a project that aims at strengthening the decentralisation processes in curriculum in respective States.

“The first chapter of NCF speaks about the need for cultivating rationalist attitude among children and encourages them to think and act independently. The chapter is very much in line with this stated objective,” he said. “An education that does not encourage children to think, analyse and argue is indoctrination,” he said.

Mr. Dhankar was speaking here on the sidelines of a three-day national workshop on “Strategies for Quality Improvement in Upper Primary Education,” organised by the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan.

Earlier, the workshop witnessed animated discussion among the participants representing over 20 different States over “controversial” passages in the textbook. The passages written in Malayalam were translated into Hindi and English by B. Vijayakumar, State Project Director, SSA.

M. Sudhish, assistant State Project Director, Chattisgarh, was of the view that the “controversial” passages promoted religious harmony rather than atheism. “I do not think the passage inculcates communist ideology or rationalism in the minds of the students. Instead it gives the child a choice to select the religion of his liking when he grows up,” he said.

According to Swati Bedekar, educationist from Gujarat, the best way to convey the significance and meaning of religion in day-to-day lives to children was by introducing thought-provoking passages on the subject.

“A textbook should be like a ‘chooran,’ a mixture of different flavours. Religion was often taken for granted. It was only when you pose questions relating to it that you realised its significance. It should be up to a child to explore the virtues in every religion,” she said.

A senior SSA official from north India, who wished to remain anonymous, was visibly upset at the media for sensationalising the issue. By asking children their religious identity, society was encouraging them to think in a certain way, the official said.

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