The apex court had taken up suo motu cognisance of the Class 8 Social Science textbook
NEW DELHI — In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s sharp knuckles on the knee, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has reconstituted its curriculum committee, officials said on Wednesday.
On February 26, the Supreme Court had taken up suo motu cognisance of the NCERT’s Class 8 Social Science textbook, which discussed a section on “Corruption in Judiciary”. The court later imposed a “blanket ban” on the use of physical or online copies of the said textbook.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant said there seemed to be a calculated move to undermine the institution and demean the dignity of the judiciary.
The bench said such misconduct, having an everlasting impact on the judiciary, would fall within the definition of criminal contempt.
“We would like to have a deeper probe,” the bench said.
The high-powered, NCERT’s 20-member National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTC) includes IIT Madras Director V Kamakoti; Indian Council of Historical Research Chairman Raghuvendra Tanwar; former Vice-Chancellor of the National Law School of India University R Venkata Rao; and Amarendra Prasad Behera, Joint Director-in-Charge, Central Institute of Educational Technology.
Earlier, the panel had 22 members, a Press Trust of India (PTI) report said.
Following the apex court’s orders, three members have been removed from the NSTC. These are Michel Danino, former guest professor at IIT Gandhinagar; M D Srinivas, chairman of the Centre for Policy Studies, Chennai; and late Bibek Debroy, former chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council.
“Reconstitution of NSTC has been undertaken to strengthen it through necessary updates,” a senior official said.
The committee is empowered to develop school syllabi and teaching-learning material, including textbooks for Grades 3 to 12, and if required, to appropriately revise the existing textbooks of Grades 1 and 2 to ensure a smooth transition from Grade 2 to 3.
