THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Pointing out the dangers that ‘regressive’ changes to school curriculum by the Centre could cause to society, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said it could lead to an entire generation being brought up in an environment of hatred, leading to communal riots as was witnessed in many parts of the country recently. The chief minister was speaking after releasing additional higher secondary textbooks, that incorporate portions removed by the National Council For Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
The additional textbooks have been released for subjects such as Political Science, History (Classes 11 and 12), Economics (Class 11) and Sociology (Class 12) “First they (Centre) used Covid as a pretext to slash portions. We should not ignore the fact that creation of a hatred-oriented society is their aim,” the chief minister cautioned. Without naming Manipur, Pinarayi said the recent communal riots in the country showed how imparting human and constitutional values through education was important.
Pinarayi said that instead of bringing out an educational policy that focuses on constitutional values, socialism and gender justice, the Centre has adopted a policy of removing portions that uphold scientific outlook and secularism. He remarked that removing portions relating to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination was an attempt to whitewash individuals and organisations involved in murdering the father of the nation.
“Soon, they will undoubtedly portray Godse (Gandhi’s assassin) as a great personality,” Pinarayi remarked. Also, the removal of portions relating to the Mughal period was aimed at ‘othering” a particular community and giving an impression that they should be driven out of the country, he pointed out. He added that making regressive changes to the curriculum was part of the eventual creation of a theocratic nation.
“For education aimed at social progress, society, history and science need to be factually understood,” the chief minister said and added that the additional textbooks were brought out by the state with such an objective.
General Education Minister V Sivankutty said revised textbooks for classes one, three, five seven and nine would reach schools next year. In 2025, revised textbooks of classes two, four, six eight and 10 would be brought out, he added.