The NCERT Committee plans to drop ‘India’ and replace it with ‘Bharat’ in all school textbooks. In a bid to revise the school curriculum, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is currently holding the 2022 Social Science Committee meeting.
According to committee chairperson C I Isaac, the panel has suggested replacing the name ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’ in the textbooks, introducing “classical history” instead of “ancient history” in the curriculum as well as including the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) in the syllabus for all subjects.
“The committee has unanimously recommended that the name ‘Bharat’ should be used in textbooks for students across classes. We have also recommended introducing ‘classical history’ instead of ‘ancient history’ in the textbooks,” Isaac told PTI.
He said the committee has also recommended highlighting “Hindu victories” in various battles in the textbooks.
“Our failures are presently mentioned in the textbooks. But our victories over the Mughals and sultans are not,” said Isaac, who is also a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR).
The NCERT is revising the curriculum of the school textbooks in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The council recently constituted a 19-member National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTC) to finalise the curriculum, textbooks and learning material for these classes.
“The committee has also recommended the introduction of the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) in the curriculum of all subjects,” Isaac said.
Other members of the committee include ICHR Chairperson Raghuvendra Tanwar, Vandana Mishra, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Vasant Shinde, former vice-chancellor of the Deccan College Deemed University, and Mamta Yadav, who teaches sociology in a Haryana government school.
The Narendra Modi-led central government, which has been emphasising liberating the people of the country from the “slavery mentality” and any elements related to such a psyche during the ongoing “Amrit Kaal”, is reportedly planning to remove the word “India” from the Constitution, sources in the know of things claimed, adding that a preparation pertaining to the proposal is underway.
(With inputs from PTI)
