NCERT faces criticism for omitting Gandhi’s views on communal harmony from Class 12 textbook

New Delhi (India), April 5, 2023: NCERT, the National Council of Educational Research and Training in India, has come under fire for removing certain excerpts about Mahatma Gandhi from its class 12 political science textbook for the new academic session.

The missing texts include statements such as “Gandhiji’s death had a magical effect on the communal situation in the country” and “Gandhi’s pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity provoked Hindu extremists.”

The NCERT rationalized the syllabus last year, citing overlapping and irrelevant content as reasons to drop lessons on Gujarat riots, Mughal courts, emergencies, the Cold War, and the Naxalite movement, among others, from its textbooks. However, the removal of Gandhi’s excerpts was not announced during the rationalization exercise.

While the NCERT claims that no curriculum trimming has taken place this year, critics have questioned the move, with some calling it an attempt to rewrite history.

The rationale for dropping certain subjects was to reduce the content load on students, provide opportunities for experiential learning, and reduce exam stress in light of the pandemic. The NCERT’s website mentions that the present textbooks are rationalized textbooks for the session 2022–23 and will continue in the session 2023–24.

Meanwhile, an official from the education ministry stated that the new curriculum framework as per the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is still being worked out and the new textbooks as per the updated curriculum will only be introduced in the 2024 academic session. This move has raised concerns among educators and students about its impact on the quality of education in the country.