Mandela, Tendulkar to become part of Bengal schoolbooks soon!
20 Dec 2013 4:37 AM IST
The West Bengal school education minister Bratya Basu said that the state school syllabus revamp committee had proposed to include chapters on anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar in the school curriculum.
The West Bengal School Syllabus Revamp Committee chairman Aveek Majumdar confirmed that there was a discussion between him and Basu on incorporating the two modern icons of our times in the syllabus.
‘We had an informal discussion. The minister has said that they could go forward with the thought in the future. We can include the chapter either in history or any of the two compulsory language papers, Bengali or English,’ added Majumdar.
Interestingly, Mandela’s struggle against apartheid in South Africa is not even included in the Graduation level history course under Calcutta University. ‘Since we are talking about South-South cooperation on Wednesday, it is important that Mandela’s struggle in Africa against the Empire be taught right from the school level. It is also important for the History Honours syllabus since Mandela was deeply influenced by Mahatma’s non-violent method of agitation which was taken up by the African National Congress and emulated elsewhere in the world’, Suparna Gooptu, professor of History, Calcutta University told Millennium Post.
It is also known that the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has a deep respect for Mandela and said on her Facebook page recently, ‘He was an icon of anti-apartheid, who devoted his entire life to fight against injustice and racial discrimination. His passing away is a huge loss to humanity’.
Mandela, who visited India in 1995 after becoming the president of South Africa died on December 5 at the ripe age of 95, in Johannesburg.
Meanwhile, India’s biggest sporting icon, Sachin Tendulkar, retired on 16 November after playing his 200th Test match in Mumbai.At present, Tendulkar’s name features in Class V English textbooks while Mandela only finds mention as an anti-apartheid leader in the Classes X and XI history syllabi.
‘It is a welcome decision. Both Mandela and Tendulkar can be taught in junior classes as well as in high school since they have achieved marvellous things which can inspire youngsters at an early age’, said the principal of a Government run school in the city.
The West Bengal School Syllabus Revamp Committee chairman Aveek Majumdar confirmed that there was a discussion between him and Basu on incorporating the two modern icons of our times in the syllabus.
‘We had an informal discussion. The minister has said that they could go forward with the thought in the future. We can include the chapter either in history or any of the two compulsory language papers, Bengali or English,’ added Majumdar.
Interestingly, Mandela’s struggle against apartheid in South Africa is not even included in the Graduation level history course under Calcutta University. ‘Since we are talking about South-South cooperation on Wednesday, it is important that Mandela’s struggle in Africa against the Empire be taught right from the school level. It is also important for the History Honours syllabus since Mandela was deeply influenced by Mahatma’s non-violent method of agitation which was taken up by the African National Congress and emulated elsewhere in the world’, Suparna Gooptu, professor of History, Calcutta University told Millennium Post.
It is also known that the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has a deep respect for Mandela and said on her Facebook page recently, ‘He was an icon of anti-apartheid, who devoted his entire life to fight against injustice and racial discrimination. His passing away is a huge loss to humanity’.
Mandela, who visited India in 1995 after becoming the president of South Africa died on December 5 at the ripe age of 95, in Johannesburg.
Meanwhile, India’s biggest sporting icon, Sachin Tendulkar, retired on 16 November after playing his 200th Test match in Mumbai.At present, Tendulkar’s name features in Class V English textbooks while Mandela only finds mention as an anti-apartheid leader in the Classes X and XI history syllabi.
‘It is a welcome decision. Both Mandela and Tendulkar can be taught in junior classes as well as in high school since they have achieved marvellous things which can inspire youngsters at an early age’, said the principal of a Government run school in the city.
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