Drop BJP's Changes in Textbooks, Educationists Tell Siddaramaiah; Decision After Cabinet, Says Minister

A group of educationists and school associations has asked the new Karnataka government to drop the changes made to the state syllabus textbooks by the previous BJP regime amid the Congress making its intent clear about changing some of the controversial legislations of its predecessor.

Professor VP Niranjan Aradhya, head of Universalisation of Education at the National Law School of India (NLSI) university in Bengaluru, met chief minister Siddaramaiah and said: “Nearly 98 per cent of the newly printed textbooks have already been distributed for the academic year 2023-24, important chapters that have been changed can be dropped from teaching and evaluation.”

The state witnessed a massive row last year after the BJP government modified the textbooks and added a speech of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar for the curriculum of Class X. The revised textbooks had also dropped works by literary figures like P Lankesh’s ‘Mruga Mattu Sundari,’ AN Murthi Rao’s ‘Vyaghrageethe’ and Sara Aboobacker’s ‘Yuddha’. The revision committee headed by Rohith Chakrathirtha also deleted the works of Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy and HS Shivaprakash. The Congress had protested the move, calling it saffronisation of education.

Decision after cabinet is formed

Responding to the demand, minister G Parameshwara said a decision can only be made after a full-fledged cabinet is formed and portfolios are allocated. “A decision cannot be made based on statements. A cabinet has to be formed and the minister concerned has to study the matter before it comes to the cabinet for approval,” said the former deputy CM.

Meanwhile, Karnataka minister Priyank Kharge said the Congress would review all the orders and bills passed by the earlier government. “Whether it is revision of textbooks, anti-conversion or cow slaughtering, all the bills and orders will be reviewed, especially those which don’t contribute to the development of Karnataka,” said the minister.

The schools association, too, has echoed similar demands. President of the Recognized Unaided Private Schools Association (RUPSA), H Lokesh Talikatte, also requested Siddaramaiah not to include the modifications in the textbooks anymore, stating that these would create a negative impact on the minds of the students.

“This government shouldn’t consider all the content added by the previous government. It shouldn’t be part of evaluation process. Only the syllabus which was present before should be considered and taught. This is demand of RUPSA because targeting one particular community has a negative effect on the minds of young children,” he said.

With the previous textbook revision committee being disbanded, the new government will have to form a committee and give it sufficient time to review the syllabus, a task which cannot be fulfilled before the academic year starts shortly. It will be interesting to see if the Congress government in the state wants to come up with an interim measure to undo the changes implemented by the previous government.