Kerala CM to release textbooks adding portions removed by NCERT

Thiruvananthapuram: The Left government in Kerala on Wednesday said it would bring out additional textbooks, which include the portions that had been removed earlier by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), for the 11 and 12th standards.

The NCERT’s recent move to exclude some key portions in various subjects citing the syllabus rationalisation process had evoked widespread criticism across the country.

Announcing the government’s decision, State General Education Minister V Sivankutty said here that the additional textbooks would be brought out on August 23.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan would release the books during a function to be held in a government school here on the day, he said.

As the state used its own textbooks from the first standard to the 10th standard, the NCERT’s exclusion of topics from the textbooks of those classes would not affect Kerala, the minister said.

However, the state uses the NCERT textbooks for classes 11 and 12, and the omission of significant portions from them cannot be accepted, he said.

Of them, the exclusion of portions from humanities subjects like history, sociology, political science and so on can not be accepted for the state at any cost, the minister said, explaining the circumstances that persuaded the state to bring out additional textbooks.

Though textbooks should be renewed in accordance with the time, no change can be made in the country’s history, constitutional values, and so on, he said in a statement.

Kerala would oppose any such move in the future as well, the minister added.