Question : NCERT HISTORY TEXT BOOKS

(a) whether the Government had set up a committee for reviewing the NCERT history text books alongwith other books;

(b) if so, whether the Government has received the report of the said committee;

(c) if so, the details thereof;

(d) the steps taken/to be taken by the Government on the said report;

(e) whether the NCERT history books for the CBSE schools have been revised from the 2005 academic sessions;

(f) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and

(g) what steps are taken to ensure sufficient copies of the books are made available on time to the students?

THE MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (SHRI ARJUN SINGH)

(a) to (g) A statement is laid on the Table of the Sabha.

THE STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN PARTS (a) to (g) OF THE REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 358 BY SHRI C.K. CHANDRAPPAN AND SHRI SURAVARAM SUDHAKAR REDDY REGARDING NCERT HISTORY TEXT BOOKS DUE FOR ANSWER ON THE 19TH APRIL, 2005.

(a) to (c) Yes, Sir. The Government had constituted a three member panel of historians to do a quick review of the NCERT history textbooks developed under the National Curriculum Framewok for School Education (NCFSE) 2000. The panel had submitted its report on 05.07.2004 containing recommendations for the short term as well as the long term. The findings of the panel were, among other things, that the textbooks prepared since 2000 were ‘so full of errors and sub-standard’, biased, badly written, rendering them unsuitable for continuation.

(d) to (g) The Executive Committee (EC) of the NCERT had considered the report and while accepting the report of the panel, decided that from the academic session 2004-2005, history textbooks based on the NCFSE 2000 would be continued in view of the advanced stage of the academic session. In addition, it was decided that for the academic year 2004-05, five copies of textbooks used prior to the NCFSE 2000 would be provided free of cost to each CBSE school as reference material for teachers and students. The NCERT also prepared a short advisory for history teachers to develop an appropriate perspective in teaching. For the academic year 2005-06, textbooks used prior to NCFSE 2000 would be used in all schools. Accordingly, a Committee was constituted to examine the issues of compatibility between the earlier history textbooks and the present social sciences and history syllabus. The Committee, in its report, suggested that the earlier history textbooks for classes VI to VIII and XI & XII could be used without much difficulty as the changes in the present syllabus can be handled through activities and projects. But the Committee did not find the earlier textbooks for class IX & X compatible with the present syllabus. The committee, therefore, suggested that with some modification in the present syllabus, the chapters dealing with Contemporary World History would be introduced in Class IX, while Chapter dealing with Modern India would be introduced in Class X. Accordingly, necessary changes have been made in the present social sciences and history syllabi and the changes were communicated to the CBSE. The old (pre-2000) history textbooks are being re-introduced after carrying out the necessary revision. The NCERT is taking steps to review and reform its system of production and distribution of textbooks including that of history in order to ensure their timely availability to the students. They have already put 54 textbooks for classes IX to XII on their website www.ncert.nic.in to facilitate easy access.