NCERT functioning as an RSS affiliate since 2014: Jairam Ramesh
"NCERT's objective is to produce textbooks, not political pamphlets and propaganda," the Congress leader said.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday accused the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) of functioning as an RSS affiliate since 2014 and said it has been setting up an attack on the Constitution, reported PTI.
Reacting to NCERT's decision to tweak references to Gujarat riots and Babri Masjid demolition in textbooks, the Rajya Sabha MP and Congress leader posted on X.
“NCERT is mounting an assault on our country's Constitution in whose Preamble secularism features explicitly as a foundational pillar of the Indian republic," he said.
Ramesh also pointed out that the National Testing Agency(NTA) is pinning the blame on NCERT for the NEET 2024 'grace marks' issue.
He alleged that these are distractions driving away attention from NTA's own abject failures.
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Ramesh accused NCERT of no longer being a professional institution and said that it has been working with RSS since 2014. He also claimed that the revised Class XI political science textbook criticises the idea of secularism and what is perceived as policies of political parties in this regard.
"NCERT's objective is to produce textbooks, not political pamphlets and propaganda," the Congress leader said.
Ramesh accused NCERT of “mounting an assault on our country's Constitution”, pointing out that this is happening in a country which upholds secularism and is considered integral to the Constitution by various Supreme Court judgements.
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Ramesh also said that NCERT needs to remind itself that it is the National Council for Educational Research and Training, “not the Nagpur or Narendra Council for Educational Research and Training” and said that the text books are different from the ones he grew up with in his tweets.
TMC leader Saket Gokhale also accused the government of hiding details from the students and asked why the same rationale is not applied while teaching about the world wars.
He also questioned the BJP and asked whether the party is ashamed of their “history as criminals and rioters”.
ALSO READ: ‘Why should we teach about riots in schools?': NCERT chief on tweaks in textooks
Following the modification of details regarding the Babri Masjid demolition and Gujarat riots, NCERT director stated the reason that “teaching about riots can create violent and depressed citizens” while denying accusations of saffronisation of school curriculum.
NCERT director Dinesh Prasad Saklani said the changes are part of a routine revision and doesn't demand this reaction, reported PTI.
Sakhlani said that they want to create “positive citizens” and not “violent and depressed individuals”, according to PTI
Sakhlani also dismissed the criticism by saying that the students can learn about these incidents once they grow up, reported PTI.
