The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday approved the revision of Kannada and Social Science textbooks of classes 6 to 10 in the state for this academic year by removing the chapters on RSS founder K B Hedgewar and Hindutva ideologue V D Savarkar among others.
It has also consented to add chapters on social reformer and educator Savitribai Phule, Nehru’s letters to Indira Gandhi and poetry on Ambedkar, and do away with the changes that were brought in by the previous BJP government.
The Congress had in its poll manifesto promised to undo the changes made to school textbooks when the BJP was in power, and had also promised to scrap the National Education Policy (NEP).
“Regarding textbook revision, the Cabinet discussed the proposal brought by the department, the lesson removed and added, and the decisions to be taken, and has given its approval,” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said after the cabinet meeting.
Primary and Secondary Education Minister Kumar Bangarappa said it was Congress’s promise in the manifesto to revise the textbooks and that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has consistently given his guidance on this.
Noting that the textbooks had reached the students by the time the new government came to power, he said, “We cannot stop it; withdrawing and reprinting new textbooks would lead to loss of hundreds of crores. There is a provision of supplementary books as done in the past, so we are going for a supplementary book regarding what is to be done and what is not needed or may lead to wrong thinking. We have removed what was not required.”
The education minister said a five-member expert committee of Rajappa Dalawai, Raveesh Kumar, Prof T R Chandrashekar, Dr Ashwath Narayan, and Rajesh has worked for revising the text book for this year.
He said, “Though there were suggestions for larger changes, keeping in mind technical and printing difficulties, and as the academic year has started, only a few changes have been made this time in Kannada and social sciences textbooks of classes 6 to 10 . This may cost about Rs 10-12 lakh. There are 75,000 schools in the state; we will ensure it reaches them.”
After Congress came to power, a delegation of writers, thinkers and representatives of various organisations met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and petitioned him regarding the revision of textbooks.
Responding to the question of what has been added and removed during the revision, Bangarappa said, “We have only restored what was there before the previous BJP government made changes; we have removed the changes they had made.”
A chapter on Savitri Phule, which was removed, has been re introduced, a poem on Ambedkar titled ‘Nee Hoda Marudina’ has been added, and ‘Magalige Bareda Patra’ – a chapter on Nehru’s letters to Indira Gandhi has also been reintroduced.
“We have removed a chapter on Hedgewar, Savarkar and a chapter written by Hindu activist and thinker Chakravarthy Sulibele, also some harsh words have been changed,” he added. He however did not wish to answer a question on whether a chapter on 18th century Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan has been reintroduced.
There was a textbook controversy during the previous BJP regime, with demands by the then opposition Congress and some writers for sacking the then textbook review committee chief Rohith Chakratirtha for allegedly “saffronising” school textbooks by including the speech of RSS founder K B Hedgewar as a chapter, and omitting chapters on key figures like freedom fighters, social reformers, and the writings of noted literary figures.
There were also allegations of erroneous content on 12th century social reformer Basavanna and certain factual errors in the textbooks, including accusations of disrespecting ‘Raashtra Kavi’ (national poet) Kuvempu and distortion of the state anthem penned by him. Initially the allegations were refuted but subsequently rectifications were made in some cases.
Noting that the academic year has just started and students will not be taught chapters for a month now, Bangarappa said, “Within that time, we will send supplementary books. It will be about 15 pages, and as soon as it is printed in two days it will reach teachers.
“These changes will only be for this year, and there will be changes for next year in the interest of students,” he said.
The minister further said that the chief minister has asked that a textbook committee be formed, and to improve teaching style and standards, keeping in mind the interest of the students. “Will do it in 10 days and send it to the CM for approval.”