The Tripura Chief Minister, Biplab Kumar Deb has said that the history textbooks in the state are more focused on Russian history and their leaders such as Vladimir Lenin and Joseph Stalin, than on Indian history and native leaders. In his address at Tripura University’s Foundation Day and 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi Tuesday, Deb said the syllabus of schools and colleges “seemed to have been prescribed by a political party”.

He further announced that the Government is planning to introduce NCERT syllabus that would be more focused on Indian history and leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, former President Late APJ Abdul Kalam, from next academic year.

“It is very tough to see Indian history in textbooks these days. All that they have are Stalin, Lenin and the Russian Revolution. Our government is working to introduce NCERT syllabus in school textbooks from the next academic year”, the CM said.

Implementing the NCERT syllabus in Tripura has been an old agenda for the BJP led Government. Earlier in the June of this year, Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath had said the state remained way behind in terms of education. He also said the BJP-IPFT government would introduce NCERT syllabus from Class I to 8 in the current academic year to amend the situation.

Nath had also said that work was in progress to prepare books and other study materials according to the NCERT syllabus. The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), has been entrusted with this job.

The erstwhile Left Front government has introduced a refurbished syllabus in 2008 and termed it “NCERT pattern”. The pattern underwent several experiments.

Madhyamik results were announced this year with 59.59 per cent pass percentage, which is 7.79 per cent lower as compared to the previous year’s records. In June, former Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy had said that history books in Tripura had “distortions” and claimed that some history was suppressed in those books.

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