Title: CPM drops Constitution
from syllabus in West Bengal
Author: Ambarish Mukherjee
Publication: The Observer
Date: January 14, 2000
Jyoti Basu-led Marxist
government in West Bengal wants to chalk out a separate course for its
education system and wants to keep school children ignorant of the Constitution
of the country.
The state government
was gradually reducing the course content of civics in school syllabus
to such an extent that it deprived the children of any knowledge of even
the basics of the Constitution, Trinamul Congress charged.
However, the state education
minister defended the government syllabus and claimed that as per experts,
"our's is the best syllabus in the country."
The changes, according
to opposition Trinamul Congress, would render school students in West Bengal
completely ignorant of the Indian Constitution, given the way the civics
syllabus had been truncated.
Chairperson of Trinamul
Congress education cell Supriya Chatterjee told this newspaper said that
"the school level history and civics syllabus is being changed in a phased
manner over the past couple of years, in which the civics part is being
reduced step by step. From 13 marks out of 100, it has now been brought
down to just four marks."
"Previously, students
used to learn the basics of the Indian Constitution and their fundamental
rights and duties as a citizen of the Republic of India in school, but
students studying under the West Bengal board are currently being deprived
of such lessons following the wilful changes in the syllabus being introduced
by the present Left Front government," she added.
This was resulting in
a situation where the upcoming generations in Bengal might remain in the
dark about the country's Constitution, which was earlier taught as part
of the civics curriculum.
As per Ms Chatterjee,
"Things like fundamental rights and duties, directive principles of state
policy, other aspects of the Constitution, the process of checks and balances
between the legislature, administration and judiciary, etc., are things
that students learn in their school days."
"If they are not taught
properly in schools, there is very little opportunity to learn these things
at higher stages, where students are more concerned about competition.
This is also one of the reasons for the poor performance of our students
in the all-India scenario. Even the preamble to the Constitution is being
taught in an abridged manner," she alleged.
West Bengal minister
for school education Kanti Bishwas, however, did not agree with the allegations.
"Politics is not something that school children need to learn," he told
this newspaper, adding that "the syllabus in our state is determined by
academicians who are members of the syllabus committee and, as a matter
of fact, many experts are of the opinion that our's is the best syllabus
in the country."
When pointed out that
things like panchayat, state legislature and judiciary, Presidential election,
RS polls, system of checks and balances, political parties, public opinion
impeachment, Gandhian and economic principles of the directive principles
of state policy, adult franchise and joint electorate, election commission
and its functions, etc., which are being taught to students all over the
country were not in the West Bengal school syllabus, Mr Bishwas did not
deny them.
He, however, justified
it by saying that "I won't make any personal comment on whether this is
good or bad, but the National Council for Education Research and Training
(NCERT) has said that our course is the best in the country."
NCERT chairman J S Rajput
had himself informed that and Mr K G R of NCERT was also of the same opinion,
he added.
