ncert syllabus line: There has been an unnecessary controversy in the academic circles over the removal of some chapters related to Mughal history from the NCERT syllabus. Several educationists have alleged that ‘selective sweeping changes’ have been made in the curriculum. NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani clarified that the changes were made during the Covid pandemic last year to reduce the burden on students. From the Class XI syllabus, chapters like Central Islamic Lands, Clash of Cultures and Industrial Revolution were dropped, from the Class XII civics book, chapters like Rise of Popular Movements and Era of One-Party Dominance were dropped. Chapters like ‘Democracy and Diversity’, ‘Popular Struggles and Movements’, ‘Challenges of Democracy’ have been removed from the Class 10 ‘Democratic Politics’ book. The NCERT director termed the debate as ‘unnecessary’. But, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi quipped, asking whether the Center will now teach students that Modi built Red Fort and Godse built Taj Mahal? Since the UP government has decided to follow the NCERT syllabus, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav questioned why poems by Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Nirala were dropped from Hindi textbooks. After looking at the whole controversy, it seems that the syllabus of different subjects might have been changed and some chapters were removed just because of duplication. But it is not believable that they have been dropped just because the same chapters related to Mughals were being taught in different classes. I agree that changes were also made in subjects like Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography and Commerce, but history is different. It is a fact that our national education system needs fundamental reforms, but nothing significant has been done in several decades. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made the new education policy for the first time. Whenever there is a change in the education policy, some old matters are removed and new matters are added. If the changes currently made in the syllabus are temporary then there should be no problem. It would not be correct to see this exercise from the point of view of Hindu-Muslim or BJP-Congress. Those who react bitterly to the changes cannot be blamed in view of the atmosphere that has heated up in the country at present. Since elections are held every year, any change in the education sector is viewed through a political prism.
Yogi merged the commissions
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday gave guidelines for setting up an autonomous UP Education Service Selection Commission. It will act as a unified body for the selection of all teachers in basic, secondary, higher and technical colleges by conducting the UP Teacher Eligibility Test (UPTET) exam. At present there are separate commissions for basic, secondary, higher and technical college teachers. Yogi said, recruitment of teachers in madrasas and minority educational institutions will also be done through the new commission. Yogi has taken a welcome step. Earlier there used to be separate commissions, which were dominated by corruption and manipulation for membership. The establishment of a single commission will reduce the cost on infrastructure, vehicles, staff and other items. Corruption will be curbed and transparency will come. Accountability will be fixed. This decision has been taken in public interest. As far as Madrassa teachers are concerned, it should be clarified that the commission will also recruit teachers for Sanskrit schools. Those who are questioning why madrasa teachers should be recruited should know that at present Maulanas of Karnataka teach in Madrasas of Mughalsarai, Maulanas of Bengal teach in Madrasas of Kanpur. There was no system to check whether these teachers knew English, maths, science, computer or knew only Urdu. Even the degree of most of them is in question. Such deficiencies will now be removed. Maulanas will now have to pass TET for recruitment in Madrasas. I think this is a good step towards fulfilling Narendra Modi’s promise that one day he would like to see Muslim students holding Holy Quran in one hand and a computer in the other.
Aaj Ki Baat: Monday to Friday, 9:00 pm
India’s number one and most followed super prime time news show ‘Aaj Ki Baat – Rajat Sharma Ke Saath’ was launched just before the 2014 general elections. Since its inception, the show has been redefining India’s super-prime time and is numerically way ahead of its contemporaries.