Author: Anubhuti Vishnoi
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: June 20, 2008
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/325143.html
As the final stages of the Government's National
Curriculum Framework (NCF) comes into effect and the National Council for
Education Research & Training (NCERT) modifies some school books and replaces
others, there is a controversy brewing. NCERT has replaced a book on Gautam
Buddha for the Eighth standard with Jawahar Lal Nehru's Discovery of India.
The replacement, which comes into effect from this academic year, has not
gone down well with well-known Buddhist and All India Confederation of SC/ST
organisations Chairman Udit Raj.
Raj is planning to take up the issue with
the NCERT as well as the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry. Buddha
Charita - a biography of Gautam Buddha written by Ashva Ghosh - was so far
a part of the Class VIII Hindi curriculum. However, starting from academic
year 2008-09, NCERT has replaced Buddha Charita with Nehru's Bharat Ek Khoj.
"NCERT has suddenly replaced the famous
Buddha Charita. Earlier, the NCERT blamed the BJP for saffronisation and influencing
school textbooks. Now, they have also resorted to a sort of Nehru/Gandhi-centric
vision replacing Buddha Charita with Nehru's Bharat Ek Khoj. Ashva Ghosh's
works are a class apart and there is no good reason to phase it out of the
curriculum. Meanwhile, other religion-related books on Ramayana and Mahabharata
are part of Class VI and Class VII curriculum," said Udit Raj.
"We plan to take up this issue with both
the HRD ministry and the NCERT and will demand that Buddha Charita be reinstated
in the Class VIII syllabus," added Raj.
NCERT officials, however, maintain that the
replacement was in keeping with NCF guidelines.
"Over the last two years or so, the school
curriculum has been upgraded in line with NCF 2005. Several books have been
replaced including Buddha Charita. Bharat Ek Khoj, owing to its broad sweep
of Indian history and culture, was considered preferable, so it was introduced
for Class VIII Hindi this academic session. New books written by other authors
for both Mahabharata and Ramayana for Class VII and VI respectively have also
been introduced, so there is no case of a bias or agenda," said a senior
NCERT official.
NCF 2005 was unveiled by the NCERT in 2005
and is aimed at making secular democracy a robust idea. The 124-page document,
prepared by the NCERT, has focused on learning without burden and child-centred
education, cutting down on the number of textbooks, making assessment methods
flexible and promoting more inclusive learning among schoolchildren.