New Delhi: University Grants Commission (UGC) chief Jagadesh Kumar has on Friday said that the NCER is fully justified in the rationalisation of textbooks and hue and cry over it has no merit.
Kumar’s remarks come amid criticism of the NCERT over removing several portions from textbooks across subjects and classes, such as cutting the content on Mughals,
Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, Gujarat riots, biological evolution, Cold War, and even periodic table.
In a series of tweets, Kumar slammed the academics objecting to the rationalisation exercise and said that there is no merit in their “hue and cry.”
Kumar said” “In the recent past, the attacks by some ‘academicians’ on the NCERT for revising the textbooks are unwarranted. There is no merit in the hue and cry of these academicians. The objective behind their grumbling seems to be other than academic reasons.”
The UGC chief further said: “The NCERT is fully justified in carrying out rationalisation of its textbooks’ contents. The current textbook modifications are not the only ones carried out. The NCERT has been revising textbooks from time to time in the past too. The NCERT has repeatedly stated that the revision of textbooks originates from various stakeholders’ feedback and suggestions.”
“The NCERT has also confirmed that it is developing a new set of textbooks based on the recently launched National Curriculum Framework for School Education and that current textbooks in which the contents have been rationalised to reduce the academic load are only a temporary phase.”