Thiruvananthapuram: In a move that could potentially set a precedent for other states, the Kerala State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has decided to reintroduce portions that the NCERT had deleted from textbooks of classes XI and XII as part of its “syllabus rationalization” process.
The decision was taken by the curriculum committee, which recommended that the deleted portions, mainly pertaining to History, should be taught in Kerala. To facilitate this, the SCERT has decided that supplementary textbooks should be printed in the state.
The committee has entrusted the Education Minister with taking a final decision on this, but sources say that with the government taking a firm stand against the removal of portions from textbooks, the state Education Department is expected to go ahead with the curriculum committee’s in-principle decision that the deleted portions should be taught.
While the NCERT had rationalized the syllabus from classes VI to XII, Kerala depends on NCERT textbooks only for classes XI and XII, and thus the changes for other classes would not affect state students.
The decision has also been praised by academics and education experts who have long argued that the process of syllabus rationalization should not come at the cost of erasing important aspects of our history and culture.
It remains to be seen whether other states will follow Kerala's lead in reintroducing deleted portions from textbooks, but this decision is likely to spark a debate on the issue of syllabus rationalization and the need to strike a balance between modernization and preserving our cultural heritage.