| Introduction: Introduction with recent context Body: Write both the sides of the argument Conclusion: Mention about wider discussion |
Recently, the government has announced third rearrangement of NCERT syllabus in last six years, and reduced the references to the Mughal history, amid other changes. This has led to a wide debate over the intent and impact of the syllabus rearrangement by the current government.
The intent of the government behind the changes in the NCERT syllabus are:
- Syllabus revision is a necessary step towards reducing the burden of the students impacted by the pandemic learning losses. All the overlapping contents that gets repeated in various classes have been removed to reduce the burden on students.
- It is an effort to provide adequate focus on all aspects of Indian history of 2,500 years, instead of over-emphasizing on one period of Indian History. Other periods and dynasties such as Cholas and Gupta have been under-represented in the present textbooks, which is essential to provide a holistic understanding about the Indian history.
- School teaching should be about building the interest and skills in students so that they research further and analyse the facts, instead of memorising the facts. Hence, the textbook should be just indicative, rather than exhaustive in its content.
- Syllabus revision is an essential part of a robust education system which is updated and contemporary. Previous governments have also carried out the revisions periodically to improve the content of the textbooks.
However, there are certain challenges associated with the reorganisation of the syllabus:
- A shallow understanding of the Mughal Empire will limit the understanding of the present society, since most of the North-Indian culture, terms and clothing have their origin in Mughal times.
- There have been communal overtones to the selective deletions in the textbook. References to the dislike of Hindutva extremists for Gandhi, a ban on Rashtriya Swamsewak Sangh (RSS) after the assassination of Gandhji and the Gujarat communal riots 2002 have been deleted.
- Experts involved in the creation of the syllabus, were not consulted regarding the revisions, making the revision opaque. Such arbitrary actions, tend to reduce the faith of people in the government.
A wider discussion is needed before carrying out a large-scale revision, because NCERT reflects the collective memory of our country, and will have a deep-seated impact on the psyche of the upcoming generations.
