The Kerala School Curriculum Steering Committee has approved the revised textbooks for schools in the state. The approval is for the first part of the two-part books for classes I, III, V, VII and IX. It has been decided to complete the revision of the second part and deliver the new books to the students in the next academic year. The full details of the reform, made after assessing that the current curriculum does not meet the needs of the new world, have not yet been released. It is unclear whether the books contain political agendas or problematic units. There are many wearing the cloak of ultra-progressive people on the committees and the complete details about the extent of their proposals are yet to be released. The last textbook revision happened ten years ago.
Meanwhile, there has been a huge transformation in the field of knowledge. It is unclear how much of the potential of artificial intelligence and information technology has been incorporated into the reform to present it to students. As per available information, the new books and curriculum will also include the alphabet, Preamble of the Constitution, secularism, vocational education in classes from 5 to 10, Gender Awareness, Art Education etc. The introduction of the Malayalam alphabet in Class I book is a welcome move. It may seem like going back from concept to the letter, but this decision will surely help to avoid the criticism that even those who finished 10th do not know the alphabet and will be able to learn letters in the future. It had been pointed out that the major shortcoming of our education system is that students are not trained in any profession even after graduation. It will be a big relief if this can be overcome by the new reform of vocational education in classes 5 to 10. This is a time when many states across the country are 'reforming textbooks' cutting out history, science and facts, giving way to myths. History books released by the Haryana government blame Gandhi for partition and praise the RSS for cultural nationalism. Social observers themselves have pointed out that the rewritten lessons of history, secularism, and religious harmony have played a major role in leading India to severe communal polarization and its ongoing mob lynching. It is already clear what the nature of many books including social science subjects will be in the National Curriculum to be released in the next academic year.
Kerala's new curriculum reform should be such that the curriculum and textbooks should be able to deal with the distortions and rewrites that are taking place in the country. This is not because we have forgotten that Kerala is a state that is ready to reject the decision and re-introduce them and impart them to the students properly even when the central government deleted important lessons in higher secondary classes as part of such moves. It is a reminder that the new curriculum should strengthen such resistance. May the new textbooks empower the children to leap into tomorrow with confidence, capable of rejecting hateful thoughts and ensuring peace and social harmony.