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State violated KER: Chennithala

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president Ramesh Chennithala has alleged that Education Minister M.A. Baby and the Education Department have violated provisions of the Kerala Education Rules (KER) related to printing and publication of Class VII textbook.

At a press conference here on Saturday, Mr. Chennithala reiterated his party’s demand for an all-party meeting on the textbook issue after first withdrawing it. He said chapter 8 (2) of the KER stipulates that the list of textbooks approved by the government and Director of Public Instruction (DPI) should be published in the State gazette every year by the end of February. However, in the case of Class VII textbooks, this procedure was not adopted and they were directly sent for printing at the Thrikkakara Government Press on March 15. The Government Press could not meet the deadline and the textbooks were later printed in a private printing press in Sivakasi, he said.

He said neither the Education Minister nor the authorities concerned had the powers to take action against schools that refused to teach the textbook. The government should stop issuing threats to schools. The question whether the Ombudsman had the power to take action against panchayats that prohibited teaching the textbook in schools under their jurisdiction needed to stand legal scrutiny.

He criticised Mr. Baby for misquoting Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh and asserted that it was highly improper for Mr. Baby to have come out with a statement on a discussion he had with Mr. Singh. Mr. Baby continued to be silent on the objections to Chapters 1 to 3 in the Class VII social science textbook and the teachers’ handbook.

Asked about the differences with the CMP and the JSS, he said each party had their own views about the issue. They had a communist base and it was natural for them to find the book unobjectionable. Answering a question, he said communities and social groups had every right to express their opinions in their chosen forums.

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