New Delhi: The National Council of Educational Research and Training has sparked a controversy after it removed portions related to the Mughals, Gujarat riots and Mahatma Gandhi from the school syllabus.
The NCERT has done the syllabus rationalisation after consulting 25 subject experts, claimed sources. The committees comprising of two to five external experts were formed for seven subjects. Teachers who are members of associations linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) too were part of these committees.
The NCERT stresses that the changes were made based on the report submitted by the expert committees. However, the committee members say that they had just given the instructions and the final decisions were made by the NCERT.
Umesh Ashok Kadam, who is a professor at the Centre for Historical Studies in JNU, was a member of the committee related to History syllabus revision. Incidentally, he is also the member secretary of Indian Council for Historical Research and Akhil Bharatiya Ithihas Sangalan Yojana which is related to the RSS.
Archana Varma who is an Associate Professor at the Hindu College which comes under the Delhi University too was a member. Teachers from two Kendriya Vidyalaya schools in Delhi and a teacher who works in a private school in Delhi too were part of the committees. However, it must be noted that the NCERT conducted discussions with these experts only once.
Meanwhile, in the case of Political Science, discussions were held twice with four experts. The committee included Vantanagpuy Khobang, assistant professor of political science at the NCERT Regional Institute of Education in Bhopal. Discussions were held thrice with four experts of Sociology.