Mangalore, Jan 4: Mangalore MLA U T Khader has brought the note of Union Minister for Human Resource Development Pallam Raji, the issue of saffronisation of text book in Karnataka.
Speaking at an interaction session with the Minister at the district Congress office in Mangalore on Friday, Mr Khader said that BJP-led state government's attempt to 'saffronise' text books needs to be checked.
“There is no harm in saffronisation if it is in terms of inculcating Swami Vivekananda's thoughts. But we are against BJP's saffronisation. The Centre has to intervene”, he said.
Mr. Lobo spoke about history being misinterpreted in school text books. The state government's deliberate modification of history can cause damage to society in future, he said.
The former MCC Commissioner also pointed out that the modified norms of determining a minority institution wherein 50% of the students are required to be from the minority community are illogical, and asked the Minister to make changes to the rules so that minority institutions are granted the 'minority' tag merely with the management of the institution representing minorities, on the lines of SC/ST institutions getting statuses on the basis of an SC/ST management.
Earlier, speaking to media persons at Circuit House in the city, Mr. Raju said in context of saffronisation of text books that the state governments are required to follow the NCF guidelines, violation of which can even result in the Centre's intervention.
There are 6,000 vacancies in Kendriya Vidyalayas across the country and attempts are being made to fill them up, he said. Vice Chancellors of all universities in the country have been asked to ensure safety of female students in campuses, he added.
Memorandum
Sr Cicilia Mendonca B.S., the Principal of Sacred Hearts' High School, Kulshekar, on behalf of the Committee for the Resisting Saffronization of Education, submitted a memorandum to the Minister at Circuit House demanding action with respect to saffronisation of school text books.
The delegation of sisters demanded that the present saffronised and poor quality textbooks for the 5th and 8th Standards be withdrawn and work on the proposed textbooks for the 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th Standards be suspended. The existing textbook committees should be scrapped and should be reconstituted with such educationists as are committed to NCF 2005. Arrangements should be made to prepare and distribute to children all over the state new books strictly as per NCF 2005, the delegation demanded.
They further demanded that since the Kerala textbooks have been hailed by experts as an index to be followed in the preparation of curriculum, the Karnataka Textbook Society should consult its counterpart in Kerala before preparing new textbooks. The committee must also publicise the drafts and invite suggestions and recommendations from the public as well as independent educationists, they said.
The appeal submitted to the Minister stated that all such textbooks shall be compulsorily offered for scrutiny by an NCERT-approved committee consisting of independent experts. The entire process of scrutiny shall be transparent.Any corrections/modifications ordered by this NCERT-approved committee shall be incorporated before the final release of textbooks, it added.
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