‘Why should we teach about riots in schools?': NCERT chief on tweaks in textbooks

National Council of Educational Research Training (NCERT) director Dinesh Prasad Saklani on Sunday rejected charges of ‘saffronisation’ of school curriculum, after revised textbooks with numerous deletion and changes hit the market.

For example, the Class 12 political science textbook does not mention Babri Masjid but refers it as a ‘three-domed structure’. Saklani, who took over as NCERT director in 2022, said references to Babri Masjid demolition and 2002 Gujarat riots can “create violent and depressed citizens”, a PTI report added.

“Why should we teach about riots in school textbooks? We want to create positive citizens not violent and depressed individuals,” he told PTI.

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Saklani added,"Should we teach our students in a manner that they become offensive, create hatred in society or become victim of hatred? Is that education's purpose? Should we teach about riots to such young children ... when they grow up, they can learn about it but why school textbooks."

“Let them understand what happened and why it happened when they grow up. The hue and cry about the changes is irrelevant,” the NCERT director told PTI.

While the NCERT has pruned the section on Ayodhya from four to two pages, it does focuses on the 2019 Supreme Court judgment that paved the way for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

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The NCERT director said,"If Supreme Court has given a verdict in favour of Ram temple, Babri masjid or Ram janmabhoomi, should it not be included in our textbooks, what is the problem in that?"

Rejecting charges of ‘saffronising’ education, Saklani said,"If we are telling about Indian Knowledge System, how can it be saffronisation? If we are telling about iron pillar in Mehrauli and saying Indians were way ahead of any metallurigical scientist, are we saying wrong? How can it be saffronisation?"

The NCERT chief said that updation of textbooks is a global practicing and revising them is an annual exercise. He added that the changes are decided by subject experts and he does not dictate or interfere in the process.

Saklani ruled out attempts to ‘saffronise’ curriculum and everything is based on facts and evidence.

The NCERT is revising the curriculum of the school textbooks in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.