Addressing mediapersons at a press conference held here on Thursday, president of the committee Suresh Bhat Bakrabail said that the substance and content of textbooks for fifth and eighth grades, which were introduced last year were not according to the guidelines prescribed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
“Drafts of the new textbooks have been dispatched to all District Institutes for Education and Training (DIET) and Colleges of Teacher Education (CTE) in various districts in Karnataka to be scrutinised by educationists and practicing teachers, but however, no serious discussions were held on the substance and content of the textbooks. The content in the textbooks are not in accordance to the NCERT guidelines. Hence, the committee demands that copies of the new texts should be made available for a thorough and proper tryout,” he said.
Member of the committee CH Krishna Shastry Balila said that there was a vast difference in the textbooks implemented in Karnataka and those drafted by NCERT (CBSE syllabus). The newly-drafted textbooks do not comply with the recommendations prescribed by NCERT such as being 'culturally neutral' or complying with the 'theory of constructivism'. There is not even a single concept of values under 'world peace' reflected in the textbooks, he said, demanding the setting up of an independent State Textbook Council, which will work as a permanent vigilance body to monitor textbooks taught in public schools and other parallel textbooks.
The committee demanded that drafts of all new textbooks be placed in public domain, by publishing them on the Web accompanied by sufficient publicity in local media. It also asked that the views and suggestions of the general public as well as parents of learners be given due consideration.
It further called for publicising the curriculum vitae of all members and other functionaries of textbook drafting committees.
Members of the committee Kabir Ullal, Victor D'Silva and Rama Shesha Shetty were present.
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