‘Embarrassed’, Suhas Palshikar, Yogendra Yadav ask NCERT to drop their names as textbook advisors 

By PTI

NEW DELHI: Embarrassed by the “arbitrary” and “irrational” cuts in NCERT textbooks, Suhas Palshikar and Yogendra Yadav, who have been chief advisors for the unique Political Science books for lessons 9 to 12, have written to NCERT saying the rationalisation train has “mutilated” the books and rendered them “academically dysfunctional”.

The duo has additionally requested the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to drop their names as chief advisors from all Political Science textbooks.

“While the modifications have been justified in the name of rationalisation, we fail to see any pedagogic rationale at work here. We find that the text has been mutilated beyond recognition. There are innumerable and irrational cuts and large deletions without any attempts to fill the gaps created.”

“We were never consulted or even informed of these changes. If NCERT did consult other experts for deciding on these cuts and deletions, we explicitly state that we fully disagree with them in this regard,” based on the letter despatched to NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani.

Palshikar, an academician and political scientist, and Yadav, political scientist and Swaraj India chief, have been chief advisors for the Political Science books for lessons 9 to 12 initially revealed in 2006-07 based mostly on the 2005 model of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF).

Their names are talked about in a “letter to students” and the listing of textbook growth group at the start of every e book.

“We believe that any text has an internal logic and such arbitrary cuts and deletions violate the spirit of the text. The frequent and serial deletions do not seem to have any logic accept to please the powers that be.”

“Textbooks cannot and should not be shaped in this blatantly partisan manner and should not quell the spirit of critique and questioning among students of social sciences. These textbooks as they stand now do not serve the purpose of training students of political science both the principles of politics and the broad patterns of political dynamics that have occurred over time,” the letter mentioned.

Dropping a number of matters and parts from the NCERT textbooks final month triggered an issue, with the Opposition blaming the Centre for “whitewashing with vengeance”.

At the center of the controversy was the truth that whereas the modifications made as a part of the rationalisation train have been notified, a few of these controversial deletions weren’t talked about.

This led to allegations a couple of bid to delete these parts surreptitiously.

The NCERT had described the omissions as a attainable oversight however refused to undo the deletions, saying they have been based mostly on the suggestions of specialists.

It additionally mentioned the textbooks are anyway headed for revision in 2024 when the National Curriculum Framework kicks in.

However, the NCERT later modified its stand and mentioned “minor changes need not be notified”.

Among the references dropped from the Class 12 History textbook have been sure parts on Mahatma Gandhi and the way his pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity “provoked Hindu extremists”, and on a ban on the RSS.

“Gandhiji’s death had magical effect on communal situation in the country”, “Gandhi’s pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity provoked Hindu extremists”, and “organisations like RSS were banned for some time” are among the many parts deleted.

The parts referring to the Gujarat riots have been additionally dropped from the Class 11 Sociology textbook, months after the NCERT eliminated the reference to the 2022 communal violence in two class 12 textbooks.

In their letter, Palshikar and Yadav mentioned, “As academics organically associated with the preparation of these textbooks, we are embarrassed that our names should be mentioned as chief advisors to these mutilated and academically dysfunctional textbooks. We wish to explicitly record our full disagreement with the entire process of reshaping the text in name of rationalisation.”

“Both of us would like to disassociate ourselves from these textbooks and request the NCERT to drop our names….we request you to give effect to this request immediately and ensure that our names are not used in the soft copies of the textbooks available at the NCERT websites and also in the subsequent print editions,” the letter learn.

NEW DELHI: Embarrassed by the “arbitrary” and “irrational” cuts in NCERT textbooks, Suhas Palshikar and Yogendra Yadav, who have been chief advisors for the unique Political Science books for lessons 9 to 12, have written to NCERT saying the rationalisation train has “mutilated” the books and rendered them “academically dysfunctional”.

The duo has additionally requested the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) to drop their names as chief advisors from all Political Science textbooks.

“While the modifications have been justified in the name of rationalisation, we fail to see any pedagogic rationale at work here. We find that the text has been mutilated beyond recognition. There are innumerable and irrational cuts and large deletions without any attempts to fill the gaps created.”googletag.cmd.push(perform() googletag.show(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); );

“We were never consulted or even informed of these changes. If NCERT did consult other experts for deciding on these cuts and deletions, we explicitly state that we fully disagree with them in this regard,” based on the letter despatched to NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani.

Palshikar, an academician and political scientist, and Yadav, political scientist and Swaraj India chief, have been chief advisors for the Political Science books for lessons 9 to 12 initially revealed in 2006-07 based mostly on the 2005 model of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF).

Their names are talked about in a “letter to students” and the listing of textbook growth group at the start of every e book.

“We believe that any text has an internal logic and such arbitrary cuts and deletions violate the spirit of the text. The frequent and serial deletions do not seem to have any logic accept to please the powers that be.”

“Textbooks cannot and should not be shaped in this blatantly partisan manner and should not quell the spirit of critique and questioning among students of social sciences. These textbooks as they stand now do not serve the purpose of training students of political science both the principles of politics and the broad patterns of political dynamics that have occurred over time,” the letter mentioned.

Dropping a number of matters and parts from the NCERT textbooks final month triggered an issue, with the Opposition blaming the Centre for “whitewashing with vengeance”.

At the center of the controversy was the truth that whereas the modifications made as a part of the rationalisation train have been notified, a few of these controversial deletions weren’t talked about.

This led to allegations a couple of bid to delete these parts surreptitiously.

The NCERT had described the omissions as a attainable oversight however refused to undo the deletions, saying they have been based mostly on the suggestions of specialists.

It additionally mentioned the textbooks are anyway headed for revision in 2024 when the National Curriculum Framework kicks in.

However, the NCERT later modified its stand and mentioned “minor changes need not be notified”.

Among the references dropped from the Class 12 History textbook have been sure parts on Mahatma Gandhi and the way his pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity “provoked Hindu extremists”, and on a ban on the RSS.

“Gandhiji’s death had magical effect on communal situation in the country”, “Gandhi’s pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity provoked Hindu extremists”, and “organisations like RSS were banned for some time” are among the many parts deleted.

The parts referring to the Gujarat riots have been additionally dropped from the Class 11 Sociology textbook, months after the NCERT eliminated the reference to the 2022 communal violence in two class 12 textbooks.

In their letter, Palshikar and Yadav mentioned, “As academics organically associated with the preparation of these textbooks, we are embarrassed that our names should be mentioned as chief advisors to these mutilated and academically dysfunctional textbooks. We wish to explicitly record our full disagreement with the entire process of reshaping the text in name of rationalisation.”

“Both of us would like to disassociate ourselves from these textbooks and request the NCERT to drop our names….we request you to give effect to this request immediately and ensure that our names are not used in the soft copies of the textbooks available at the NCERT websites and also in the subsequent print editions,” the letter learn.