Chapter II
Policies,
Curricula, Syllabi and Textbooks
Educational Policies
Educational policies are prepared by committees set up by the
Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD). These are approved by the CABE
and also tabled for approval in both houses of Parliament. Several major
committees have been set up since independence: the Secondary Education
Commission (1952-53), Education and National Development (1964-66), National
Policy on Education (NPE) 1986 and Programme of Action (POA) 1992. The Review
Committee of the NPE 1986, known as the Acharya Ramamoorthy Committee (1990),
reviewed the NPE 1986 and the Yash Pal Committee’s ‘Learning Without Burden’
(1994) suggests ways of reducing curricular load.
The National Curriculum Frameworks
Curriculum development, syllabus design and the preparation of
instructional materials, including textbooks and their evaluation, began with
the emergence of the NCERT as a nodal agency at the national level in the area
of school education. The NCERT was involved directly in the process of
curriculum development and preparation of textbooks. As the State Institutes of
Education (SIEs), State Textbook Boards and State Councils of Educational
Research and Training (SCERTs) were established, these gradually followed the
pattern of providing technical support to research and development activities
underlying the formulation and the preparation of textbooks at the state/union
territory levels.
1. At the central level, based on education policy, a National
Curriculum Framework (NCF) is brought out by the NCERT. Since independence,
three NCFs have been framed on the basis of the recommendations of the two major
committees, 1968 and 1986. The NCF framed in 2000 is the only NCF that was
framed without a policy statement preceding it.
2. The NPE 1986 defines the NCF as follows: "The national system
of education will be based on a national curricular framework which contains a
common core along with other components that are flexible." Common core has been
defined by the NPE as follows: history of India’s freedom movement;
constitutional obligations; promotion of values such as India’s common cultural
heritage; egalitarianism; democracy and secularism; equality of the sexes;
protection of the environment; removal of social barriers; observance of the
small family norm; inculcation of the scientific temper. Textbooks which seek to
fulfil curriculum objectives must reflect the above-mentioned aspects of the
‘core’.
3. The NCF 2000 makes fundamental departures from the earlier
NCFs and policies in respect of the role of values, the place of religion,
equality of educational opportunity, etc. These departures generated wide
controversy both with regard to (a) the process of preparation and (b) content
of the NCF.
4. The Executive Committee of the NCERT in its meeting of July
19, 2004 decided to initiate a review of the National Curriculum Framework for
School Education (NCFSE) 2000. It decided to form five structures to undertake
the NCF review. These structures are: the National Steering Committee; National
Focus Group; Committee for Consultation with States; Research Unit; Coordination
Committee. The National Steering Committee chaired by Professor Yash Pal has
members including scholars from different disciplines, principals and teachers,
representatives of NGOs and members of the NCERT faculty. The Committee is
deliberating on all aspects of the school curriculum, taking into account the
existing framework. The final review document will be presented to the Executive
Committee of the NCERT and the Council of the General Body for discussion and
approval, and ultimately to the CABE.
Following the curriculum framework, syllabi for the primary,
middle, secondary and senior secondary stages are also prepared. The syllabi
assume great importance, as this sets out both the content contours and topics
on the basis of which the Examination Boards set questions for examinations. The
syllabi are therefore more familiar documents among teachers, parents and
students than the policy or the curriculum framework. There are many Boards in
the country but most states have their own Examination Boards in addition to the
CBSE and Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) Boards. Each Board
prescribes its own syllabi. It may or may not adhere to the NCERT syllabi.
The textbook is a major educational tool for students. In India,
textbooks occupy most of the educational space in schools. They are not just
teaching manuals, they shape the minds of children in their formative years and
have a profound influence on how young minds interpret reality. For this reason
the content of textbooks or instructional material is a deeply contentious issue
in several countries around the world. Indeed questions of curriculum and
textbooks are so contested because they are at the heart of debates over
national identity and over who will define and control what is worth knowing.
This is probably why in a country as diverse as ours the issue of textbooks is a
site of much contestation and conflicting interpretations. In one sense, the
content of our textbooks is a crucial disseminator of fundamental values of
citizenship, values that we need to pass on to the next generation. Thus the
content of textbooks is of vital importance and has a significant impact on the
educational development of students.
T ypes
of Schools
Schools and school systems in India are a bewildering
array of structure and functioning. Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) are
primarily meant for children of central government officers who are posted
all over India. They are affiliated to the CBSE which prescribes the
syllabus and the NCERT textbooks. They function from Class I to Class XII.
Navodaya Vidyalayas (NVs) are centrally managed and are meant for talented
children from the rural areas and function from Classes VI to XII. They
are also affiliated to the CBSE and use NCERT textbooks.
Private unaided schools are also affiliated to the CBSE and form
a very influential group in the system. They use NCERT textbooks from Class IX
onwards and function from preschool to Class XII. Private aided schools
receiving aid from state governments are affiliated to the CBSE or State Boards.
Christian missionary schools are affiliated to the ICSE, CBSE
and State Boards. In the past few years the International Baccalaureate has made
significant inroads among elite private schools.
The majority of children study in schools run by the state
government. These are affiliated to their own State Boards and use textbooks
prescribed and prepared by their own state bodies, usually the State Institutes
of Education or SCERTs.
Alternate schools under many names are also run under the SSA (Sarva
Shiksha Abhiyan). They have textbooks, workbooks, worksheets and
teaching-learning materials prepared by the SSA/DPEP (District Primary Education
Programme).
There are lakhs of private unrecognised primary schools all over
the country, for preschool to Class V/VIII. The textbooks used in these schools
are more often than not low priced, low quality kunjis or ‘guides’.
There are also small primary schools run by several social and
religious organisations which are not affiliated to any agency.
Then there is the National Institute of Open Schooling which has
its own Board of Examinations and prepares and prescribes its own books. State
Open Schools are run along the same lines as the National Open Schools. 1
Curriculum Framework, Syllabi and Textbooks
With the adoption of the 10+2 pattern as recommended by the Education
Commission (1964-66), the NCERT developed supporting syllabi and textbooks to be
used as models by the states and union territories. Most states excepting the
newly formed ones and the union territories have their own Examination Boards,
similar to the CBSE, which are known as State Boards. The respective State
Directorates along with the SCERTs prepare textbooks which are then printed by
the Textbook Bureaus in states at a highly subsidised price.
The NCERT has brought out three sets of syllabi so far: in 1975, 1988 and
2002. Although the NCERT frames the syllabi, it is the CBSE that prescribes
syllabi which are valid for purposes of examination and certification for
schools affiliated to the CBSE. State Boards prescribe the syllabi and textbooks
for schools affiliated to them. However, private schools do not necessarily
follow the Board-prescribed syllabi and textbooks till Class VIII.
Non-NCERT, non-CBSE-prescribed textbooks constitute the majority of textbooks
in use in the country. A detailed account of institutional mechanisms in the
states for textbook preparation is given in the next chapter.
There are large numbers of textbooks published by the private sector.
Non-government schools are free to choose publications, including those
published by the private sector. Some of the elite schools use books produced by
private publishers such as Oxford University Press, Ratna Sagar and Maktaba
Jamia.2 Selection of textbooks from
private publishers is dependent on the school, which generally invites
publishers to bring the books before a committee of teachers to decide. Many
incentives are offered by publishers to schools, which could range from price
cuts to a percentage of total cost of books supplied being made over to the
school.3 A measure of state patronage for them can be discerned from the fact
that seminars and workshops for teachers, held by state bodies, are ‘sponsored’
by these publishers.4 However, the point is that these private publishers cannot
be wished away legally. Every publisher has a right to publish and if parents
choose to select the textbooks for their children to read, there is not much
that can be done.
The most important issue is with regard to textbooks and related literature
used in schools run by religious and social organisations which have a large
outreach and impact. Some schools i.e. Saraswati Shishu Mandirs,6
Ekal Vidyalayas, Pathshalas, Madrassas, etc run by respective religious and
social organisations follow their own curricula and books. Some of them use this
route to promote ideologies that often contradict the basic principles and
vision of the Constitution and educational policies.8 There is no mechanism to
regulate the content of the textbooks used by these organisations or to prevent
them from publishing and distributing them. They seek recognition neither from
the state nor any examining Board. The Policy of Non-Formal Education (1986)
enables any organisation to run non-formal centres. If they do not receive state
funds, they are not governed by the state. They continue to run their ‘centres’
with books of their choice. When children are ready, they are registered with
the Open School and obtain their certification.9
Some Important Issues
As there is no state-level curriculum statement, it is presumed that the
syllabi adhere to the core elements of the NCF (which is the expectation of the
NCF). No serious scrutiny of the extent of adherence to the core curriculum of
state syllabi has been conducted so far.
Textbooks and curricula in schools run by religious and social organisations
and schools not aided by the state are not regulated in any form by state
agencies. Their adherence to constitutional provisions and educational policies
is an issue of major concern and this has been discussed in Chapter IV on the
social content of textbooks. n
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Notes
1 Information from Note submitted by Janaki Rajan, Director, SCERT, New
Delhi, to the CABE Committee.
2 Founded by Jamia Millia Islamia, the Maktaba Jamia is a private limited
company with the Jamia Millia Islamia having an 80 per cent financial stake in
the company.
3 Ibid.
4 Publishers also offer to underwrite seminar and other expenses of the
schools. This is apart from the usual calendars, diaries, posters, stationery
offered free to schools. Ibid.
6 An umbrella organisation, Vidya Bharati was founded in 1977 and at that
time it ran 700 schools. In 2003 it had 14,000 schools, 73,000 teachers and 1.7
million pupils. "In 1991 Vidya Bharati claimed it was running the second largest
chain of schools in the country, next only to the government schools."
Information given in Christophe Jaffrelot, ed. The Sangh Parivar: A Reader,
Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2005, p. 6 and p. 199 respectively.
8 On schools and textbooks used in Saraswati Shishu Mandirs, Ekal Vidyalayas,
etc see Tanika Sarkar, ‘Educating the Children of the Hindu Rashtra: Notes on
RSS Schools’ in Christophe Jaffrelot, ed. The Sangh Parivar: A Reader;
Teesta Setalvad, ‘How textbooks teach prejudice’, Communalism Combat,
October 1999; Teesta Setalvad, ‘Gujarat: Situating the Saffronisation of
Education’ in The Saffron Agenda In Education, Sahmat, New Delhi, 2001;
Nalini Taneja, ‘Communalisation of Education: Taking Stock Again’, People’s
Democracy, No. 43, October 2003.
9 Janaki Rajan’s Note submitted to the CABE Subcommittee.
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