The Trinamul Congress, a key ally of the Congress in the UPA, has joined hands with several state governments headed by the BJP and others to block the human resources development ministry’s proposal to set up a National Textbook Council. Besides the TMC and the BJP, the BSP, JD(U), AIADMK and BJD oppose it.
The move aimed to create a body that would monitor the content of school textbooks, including those taught at schools run by religious outfits, but the states objected, claiming that it encroached on their jurisdiction.
The Mamata Banerjee government said: “Instead of strengthening the National Council of Educational Research and Training... to take care of the additional task of monitoring violation of norms, creating another central council is not convincing.”
The Narendra Modi government in Gujarat also voiced objections, saying: “Such a body is the prerogative of state governments. Any national body created to keep a watch on textbooks is likely to be led by value judgments of a few people.”
While the proposal was first mooted when the late Arjun Singh was HRD minister in UPA-1, it was revived after Mr Kapil Sibal took office. However, even Mr Sibal’s active involvement and push for the proposed outfit hasn’t won any support from state governments.
Besides state governments, the council is also being opposed by several minority institutions and religious bodies who fear it could also hinder the freedom of their schools.
The creation of such a body was first recommended by a Central Advisory Board of Education committee.
The panel was tasked to study textbooks in government schools not using the CBSE syllabus and others and suggest a mechanism to monitor curricula content.