SFI Against Govt Sabotage of NCERT Syllabus

Student Struggle Editorial Team

On 8 June, Wednesday, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) slashed chapters on secularism, democratic rights, gender, religion, caste, and food security from the school syllabi of students from class IX to XII. The issue turned into a controversy when students, teachers and other members of the civil society of the country came forward to speak against it on social media and elsewhere. Following this, the CBSE responded that it was a “one-time measure” to reduce exam stress and that these chapters will be covered in an “Alternative Academic Calendar of NCERT”.

However, people and members of progressive organisations have accused the government and the CBSE of carrying out its devious agenda to “saffronise” education at a time precisely when the country is going through a crisis. Many academicians have stated that the decision appears “ideologically driven”. CPI (M)’s Sitaram Yechury has termed it “atrocious” and “unacceptable”.

Most of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)’s school textbooks, put together by the country’s most respected of intellectuals, professors and academicians, used to be considered a significant part of the country’s school education system and curricula. However, crucial chapters have now been removed from them. Democratic rights and structure of the Indian Constitution have been slashed from Class IX Political Science syllabus; food security from Economics syllabus; ‘Everyday Life, Culture and Politics’ and ‘Print Culture and the Modern World’ have been slashed from Class X History books; Forest and Wildlife, Water Resources and Mineral and Energy Resources have been partially cut from Geography. At the same time, important chapters on federalism, citizenship, nationalism, secularism and the growth of local governments in India have been slashed from the syllabus of Class XI.

The Students’ Federation of India (SFI) has condemned the move and called it “crooked” and a way to “use the challenges” posed by the pandemic and the lockdown. The organisation, in its official statement released by its Central Executive Committee (CEC), remarks that the chapters removed happen to be those that are crucial in building a democratic, rational, and secular society. Calling it a “day light robbery” of the contents of these books and a “direct hit on the country’s democratic struggles and aspirations”, it has called for wider resistance from all stakeholders in the country against this. We reproduce the entire statement below.

Read the full statement here:

United Resistance Against the Decision to Sabotage the School Syllabus by the Central Government

The Central Executive Committee of SFI condemns in strongest possible terms the crooked move by the BJP led central government to sabotage the curriculum by using the challenges posed by the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. The NDA government has decided to cut short the syllabus of various subjects to compensate the already lost academic days. As part of this the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) has asked NCERT to delete certain specific chapters and portions from different text books. Shockingly, this includes many crucial chapters and areas which are the pillars of building a rational, democratic and secular society.

CBSE has completely deleted sections on Citizenship, Nationalism, Secularism, and Federalism. The deleted portions also include democratic rights, people’s struggles etc. Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal stated that, “Considering the importance of learning achievement, it has been decided to rationalise syllabus up to 30% by retaining the core concepts.”

It means that the above mentioned subjects don’t come under the purview of core concepts to be retained in syllabus at any circumstances. The central government has done a day light robbery of the rational, secular, democratic content of the school texts by using the lockdown. This must be seen in relation with the ongoing projects of RSS-BJP to communalise the curriculum by distorting the actual history and deleting the constitutional values. Students will no longer be asked to learn about the nation in a true spirit, but the propaganda of the anti-constitutional Hindutva regime.

There should be a wider and united resistance across the country against the decision to sabotage the school syllabus by the central government. This is a direct hit on the democratic struggles and aspirations. This is part of a criminal and communal project to divide the country and weaken its rational thoughts. SFI demands the government to immediately restore the actual core concepts in the NCERT text books.

VP Sanu (President)
Mayukh Biswas (General Secretary)

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