NCERT panel recommends replacing ‘India’ with ‘Bharat’, highlighting 'Hindu victories' in school textbooks
A high-level committee for social sciences constituted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has recommended that "India" should be replaced with "Bharat" in the school textbooks for all classes. The committee has been constituted to revise the school curriculum.
According to committee chairperson CI Isaac, the panel has proposed changing the name "India" to "Bharat" in textbooks, introducing "classical history" rather than "ancient history" into the curriculum, and including the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) in the syllabus for all subjects.
However, NCERT officials stated that no decision had been made on the panel's recommendations.
"The committee has unanimously recommended that the name 'Bharat' should be used in textbooks for students across classes. We have also recommended introducing 'classical history' instead of 'ancient history' in the textbooks," the committee chairperson said. The committee had also recommended highlighting "Hindu victories" in various battles in the textbooks, he added.
"Our failures are currently mentioned in the textbooks. But our victories over the Mughals and sultans are not."
In accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, the NCERT is revising the curriculum of school textbooks. To finalize the curriculum, textbooks, and learning material for these classes, the council recently formed a 19-member National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTC).
"The committee has also recommended the introduction of the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) in the curriculum of all subjects," he stated.
ICHR Chairperson Raghuvendra Tanwar, Vandana Mishra, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Vasant Shinde, former vice-chancellor of the Deccan College Deemed University, and Mamta Yadav, who teaches sociology in a Haryana government school, are also members of the committee.
- With inputs from agencies
