BENGALURU: Amid the ongoing controversy over the implementation of the National Education Policy, more so after the position papers became accessible to everyone, Madan Gopal, head of the task force in Karnataka for NEP, said the position papers are not being implemented immediately or even the next academic year. The education ministry is also working on holding the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Committee meeting, headed by K Kasturirangan, in October where the curriculum for children from Grades 3-5 will be discussed.
Gopal told TNIE that 800-850 position papers have been prepared all over the country by all the states. While each state has prepared 25, Karnataka is ready with 26 (the additional being school governance and leadership). Each is a comprehensive report prepared by an expert committee, comprising experienced academicians, and these reports will be placed before the NCERT and the ministry to take the decision. The position papers show the thinking of the committee members.
Explaining the confusion over the Pythagoras theorem, Newton’s law of gravity and Sanskrit language to be taught to children and reference to sciences learnt over the years as “rubbish”, Gopal said in the position papers, the committee members have not said children should not be taught what is being taught. But alongside, students must also know about the contributions of Indian scientists, academicians and medical experts and their importance. “If you will not read and do not want to read, then you will criticise. The reports do not rubbish Pythagoras theorem or others such. Many children think India has not made any contribution to the fields. They need to be informed. These are the preparatory background papers for the NEP curriculum framework and revising the teachers’ training module. It will be a prolonged process before it is implemented,” he said.
On the topic of including the genocides which happened and addition of new chapters, Gopal said students should know the truth, just like South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission report. “Earlier, many facts and information had been removed from history books because of certain ideologies. Whether we like it or not, Hindu genocides have happened, so the facts should be put out. Each state has put out its position papers and we do not know what other states have done.
We have to assess all those things. The position papers are the viewpoints of particular people and we did not ask anyone to lean to any side or post any hidden agenda. It is not necessary for everyone to agree to their viewpoints, but it is information to be put on the public domain for people to access,” he added. The committee members wondered why the issue was being raked up now when the position papers were put up on the Department of State Educational Research and Training (DSERT) website in May. Some of them also opined that it was being timed with the ongoing textbook controversy where Kannada chapters were being questioned.
On the language row, Gopal said NEP is for state syllabus and Kannada will be there till Grade 12. The second language will be English and the third language will be national languages, including Malayalam, Kannada and many others, including Sanskrit. It is one of the languages.