(a) whether the Government proposes to establish ``National
Textbook Council`` to monitor textbooks used in the schools in
the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the proposal has not found support amongst the
State Governments;
(d) if so, the details thereof including the views expressed
by the State Governments; and
(e) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government in
the matter?
MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI KAPIL SIBAL)
(a) to (e) A statement is laid on the Table of the Sabha.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF THE LOK
SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 217 ASKED BY DR. PADMASINHA BAJIRAO
PATIL REGARDING NATIONAL TEXTBOOK COUNCIL, DUE FOR ANSWER ON
24.11.2010.
(a) and (b) A Committee of Central Advisory Board of
Education on “Regulatory Mechanism for Textbooks and Parallel
Textbooks taught in schools outside Government system†has
recommended establishment of “National Textbook Council†to
monitor textbooks used in schools in the country so that
standard of education could be maintained and the student
community should not be exposed to inferior quality of
textbooks or undesirable content. A proposal has been
circulated among the State Governments and Union Territory
(UT) Administrations seeking their opinion.
(c) to (e) Replies have been received from the States of
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand,
Karnataka, Mizoram, Nagaland, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil
Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Union Territories
of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman
and Diu, Delhi, Lakshadweep and Puducherry. A gist of
responses of these States /UTs are annexed with the reply.
The matter is under consideration at present.