Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has written to Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar saying that school textbooks should not become an ideological battleground between the Left and the Right, and should focus on being child-friendly.

He has submitted detailed suggestions on what needs to change with regard to National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT) books.

Sisodia made these submissions at the 54th General Council meeting of the NCERT, after having read textbooks of Class I to Class VIII, and interacting with teachers. Content review of textbooks, implementation of learning outcomes, adequate supply of textbooks and recruitment of non-academic staff were among the issues discussed at the meeting, attended by several state ministers.

“Textbooks have often been changed with change in governments. As new governments come in, they critique the earlier books. The tragedy of our education system is that these critiques are only ideological. Some governments bring in Left-wing academicians, others bring in Right-wing academicians and they criticise books on ideological grounds. However, this ideological battle ignores the very person who needs to be at the centre of this debate: the child…,” Sisodia wrote in the letter.

(With PTI inputs)

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