Date:17/12/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/12/17/stories/2002121705461100.htm

National

Walkout in NCERT meet over textbook row

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI DEC. 16. The Education Ministers of Congress and Left-ruled States walked out of the 39th Annual General Meeting of the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) here today over the textbook issue, even as the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Murli Manohar Joshi, dismissed it as a frustrated Opposition's attempt to flog a dead horse.

Evidently buoyed by the Gujarat election results and the Supreme Court judgment which went in favour of the National Curriculum Framework for School Education, Dr. Joshi described today's walkout as a "political statement'' by an Opposition that had been shown the door in Gujarat, Assam and Rajasthan.

While a walkout by Opposition-ruled States was anticipated from the moment the AGM began, the Education Ministers of Congress and Left-run States raised the textbook controversy two hours into the meeting. Their demands include reconstitution of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), deferring the introduction of the controversial textbooks, review of the textbooks by an independent panel and reintroduction of the old books till the expert group submits its report.

With the memorandum being "rejected'' by others present, the signatories to the statement walked out of the meeting protesting against the way in which cooperative federalism had been given the go-by during the entire process of curriculum revision.

Since most of these States have already decided not to introduce the NCERT textbooks in their schools, the Ministers said they would either retain the old books or bring out a new set on their own. As for Jammu and Kashmir, its Minister, Harsh Dev Singh, decided to remain in the meeting to present the State's case, vis-à-vis, infrastructure and later told the media that the NCERT textbooks would be introduced in the State with modifications "wherever necessary''. "I insisted that J&K — which finds little mention in the social science text — cannot be ignored.''

"These books, which are full of inaccuracies, are unacceptable to us,'' said the West Bengal Education Minister, Kanti Biswas, conceding that some of the History books brought out by his State too contained errors. "We have set up a committee of historians to examine them and will accept their suggestions.''

In particular, the Opposition-ruled States are pressing for the reconstitution of CABE. However, the Minister later said the Supreme Court judgment — which the Opposition Ministers were quoting — had only advised the Centre to convene a meeting of CABE, and there was no directive to this effect from the apex court.