Daijiworld Media Network
New Delhi, Apr 18: Leave apart the rising crescendo of comments and counter comments, the decision taken by Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on removing chapters on ‘democracy and diversity’, poses the need for a serious discussion, at least among political platforms if not with the concerned parents.
As part of the action, three chapters from the Democratic Politics Book 1 (Democracy and Diversity, Popular Struggle and Movements and Challenges to Democracy) have been scrapped from the Class 10 social science syllabus for the 2019-2020 sessions. The CBSE said in a statement that these chapters will be assessed in the periodic tests, but will not be evaluated in the board examination.
However, the board has cleared its part by concluding the action as ‘curriculum rationalisation exercise’ under the close watch of the human resource development ministry to “reduce the burden and pressure of the curriculum on the students”. Let us take an in-depth look on how the much-discussed action of CBSE is having its significance during this election season.
Why is there a fast move from CBSE?
In its circular, issued last month, the CBSE board said that it wanted to align its assessment patterns with future needs as the ministry of human resource development has decided to participate in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2021.
The circular said, "Countrywide consultations were held with CBSE stakeholders, including teachers, students, heads of institutions and experts in the field to suggest ways to strengthen the assessment and evaluation practices of the board. "It was agreed upon that the school-based or internal assessment needs to be strengthened by incorporating more diverse strategies."
Several academics and teachers expressed their opinion that the decision is not right and is a contravene by the CBSE.
Hindustan Times quoted Prof Satvinderpal Kaur of the department of education, Punjab University, saying: "Chapters such as 'popular struggle' and 'movements and challenges to democracy' have their own importance in making of the child understand past struggles. The child’s knowledge of these topics must be holistically evaluated. What is being done is not healthy and will have a harmful long-term effect.”
"The NCERT should be the body that should decide the curriculum. However, CBSE is calling the shots," he said, as per the report.
The NCERT’s track-record, however, is not clean either. It has, recently and in the past, also removed crucial chapters on democracy, caste struggles and colonialism.
Along with CBSE, the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) also has decided to drop a full chapter – ‘Democracy in the Contemporary World’ – from the political science textbook for Class 9.
However, the reason for removal of the chapters is still unknown in a vague context.
The news portal quoted Historian Hari Vasudevan, who headed the advisory committee for NCERT textbooks in 2005, saying: “The arbitrariness and wilfulness do not send a right message at the time of elections. Moreover, it is about removing the chapter on democracy.”
A month before, the NCERT body had dropped three chapters from its Class 9 history textbook, that includes the conflict and struggles of ‘lower caste’ Nayar women of Travancore, who were forced to keep their upper bodies uncovered. This was the second textbook review undertaken by the incumbent government.
However, the director of NCERT Hrushikesh Senapathy said that the decision to drop the chapter had been a democratic one and he refused to answer why the authors of the book were not consulted before its contents were altered.