NEW DELHI: Education Ministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled States walked out of the meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) on Tuesday to protest against Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh putting the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) up for discussion without incorporating their suggestions.

Though the BJP ministers participated in the meeting of the General Council of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) — held just ahead of CABE — they were peeved over Mr. Singh's insistence on moving a resolution for the adoption of the NCF without giving a firm commitment on including their suggestions. The Minister's refrain at both meetings was that their concerns had been recorded and would be factored in while drafting the syllabus and writing the textbooks.

Articulating their objections to the NCF, the BJP ministers said it sought to sideline Sanskrit by describing it as a "classical language" despite the Supreme Court describing it as a scientific language. Besides, they said, yoga found only passing mention as a sports activity and there was no spiritual quotient in the NCF though the S.B. Chavan Committee and the Kothari Committee had in the past advocated spiritual education.

"Pre-determined action"

After they walked out from the CABE meeting, BJP member of the Rajya Sabha Bal Apte said those who drafted the NCF had undertaken a command performance and the two-day exercise of convening CABE to clear it was a "pre-determined action."

In view of the reservations expressed about the NCF — not nly by the BJP members but by others also — the HRD Minister announced that a monitoring committee would be set up to look into every aspect of preparing the syllabus and textbooks. This committee would include representatives of CABE, NCERT and State Governments.

The NCF came in for considerable criticism from other quarters also, with many State Education Ministers opposing the suggestion to make the Class X examination optional and demanding further clarification on the three-language formula. Some members opposed the proposal to have different levels of courses for subjects perceived as "tough," particularly Mathematics. Their concern was that such a move would create another class of students.

NCERT Director Krishna Kumar sought to underline the fact at the start of the CABE session that the NCF was a "prescriptive document" and its contents were just suggestions, not decisions.

Highlighting the changes that had been made in the revised document since objections were raised at the first CABE meeting on the NCF in June, he said: "Complete unanimity is not expected nor is it possible in a federal polity."

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