Directs NCERT to review textbooks of all classes: : Centre to SC

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New Delhi, March 11

The Centre government has told the Supreme Court that it has directed the National Council of Educational Research and Training to review textbooks for all classes following controversy over a Class 8 social science book.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, said it would have preferred the government to set up an expert committee to examine the curriculum rather than simply directing NCERT to carry out the review. The court was hearing a suo motu case over content in an NCERT Class 8 social science textbook that allegedly contained “offending” references about corruption in the judiciary.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench that the government had asked NCERT to review textbooks across all classes, not just the Class 8 book. He also assured the court that a panel of domain experts would be formed to examine the curriculum before any material is published.

“We have started systemic changes,” Mehta said, adding that textbooks would not be released without being vetted by experts.

He also informed the court that the NCERT director had filed an affidavit offering an unconditional apology over the issue.

Earlier, on 26 February, the Supreme Court imposed a blanket ban on the publication, reprinting or digital circulation of the Class 8 social science book, saying the content had “offended” the judiciary.

The court had also ordered that all copies of the book currently in circulation be seized and removed from public access, stating that the material appeared to be part of a “calculated move” to undermine the dignity of the judiciary.

PTI