Author: Hari Om
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: June 7, 2002
A handful of school principals have
been roped in to discredit NCERT's new National Curriculum Framework for
School Education on the ground that professionals of national standing
were not involved in its preparation. Before tackling this canard, I would
like to show the ideological leanings of those attacking a national institution
like NCERT, which caters to the needs of schoolchildren throughout the
country, and is not a handmaiden of some rich institutions in the capital.
I joined NCERT after the exercises
to frame the new curriculum work were over. But having access to the files,
I have tried to acquaint myself with the process, especially because of
the controversies raked up every day in the media. Our opponents have resorted
to the Goebbelsian technique of repeating lies ad nauseam. Far from being
an exercise in secrecy (as repeatedly alleged), NCERT's national curriculum
framework was published way back in November 2000, 16 months ago! Copies
were sent to all union ministers; chief ministers, education ministers
and education secretaries of all states/union territories; Rajya Sabha
and Lok Sabha MPs (Value Education Committee Members); and political leaders.
It must be noted that in all these
16 months, we did not get any adverse remarks about the final document,
notwithstanding the unsustainable allegations of secrecy. The Education
Minister of one State sent a note appreciating the document and assuring
us that the State was working on the same lines while preparing the State
curriculum, while the Chief Minister complained of secrecy! We could not
but feel that he had acted under political pressure. Regarding the framing
of the final curriculum, this was also an extensive and highly representative
process. Readers may not be aware that the National Policy on Education,
1986, recommended regular review of all parameters of implementation every
five years. The Programme of Action, 1992, also stressed the need to modernise
the curriculum to incorporate advances in knowledge. The Ninth Five Year
Plan (1997-2000) document reiterated the need for review and updating of
curricula by NCERT, and asked it to upgrade the textbooks to keep pace
with international standards. In the light of these exhortations, NCERT
decided to revise the curriculum in 1997, and set up a working group up
under Professor Arjun Dev in March 1998. A seed paper was prepared and
circulated to elicit initial academic inputs for a rough draft of a discussion
document. The seed paper was sent for comments to all departments of the
National Institute of Education; the Central Institute of Educational Technology;
the Regional Institutes of Education at Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysore
and the Demonstration Schools attached to them; as well as to the Pandit
Sundarlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education, Bhopal. Their
meetings were held in October 1999. Simultaneously, NCERT consulted eminent
scientists, social scientists, historians, artists, social workers and
administrators.
In January 2000, the Discussion
Document emerged and was widely circulated for comments and suggestions.
It was also put up on the website. Further, 13 regional workshops were
sponsored through state-level institutions, where experts discussed the
draft curriculum threadbare. A national level workshop was organised in
Delhi in April 2000. In the light of the above, what credibility is there
in the charge that the National Curriculum Framework was prepared without
consultation?
I have learnt that academics of
a particular university have been going from college to college running
a campaign against the re-writing of history textbooks. They have been
claiming that NCERT could not find authors to write new books and was secretly
cajoling "liberal historians" to take up the work. Apparently, these ideologues
never expected the new books to be written. It was only when an esteemed
ex-colleague, who is following the case with far greater passion than he
bestowed upon his duties while in office, found out that publication was
in full swing, that panic buttons were pressed. The result was a public
interest litigation by persons unrelated to the discipline of History.
(The writer is Professor of History,
NCERT)
