The additional textbooks for higher secondary that were recently unveiled by the State government not only include content removed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) from the curriculum, but also touch on the State’s economic development, social movements, historical events, and contemporary landscape.
The six additional textbooks in four subjects – History, Political Science, Sociology, and Economics – have been brought out by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) following the NCERT’s deletion of topics and even entire lessons from the textbooks in the name of rationalisation.
The removal of content related to Partition and Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, Gujarat riots, and the Mughal kings and their courts had led to an outcry from various quarters, including from historians and academics.
Following the uproar, the State’s General Education Minister entrusted the SCERT with studying the changes made to textbooks. An expert committee that was set up recommended that new textbooks be published for four subjects for which NCERT textbooks are used in the State.
The additional History textbooks for Classes XI and XII delve into Mughal history through the court chronicles; the partition and its horrors, especially that experienced by women and children; the ideology of communalism; biological evolution; emergence of Islam; and the Industrial Revolution and workers’ protests.
In Political Science, Class XI students will learn about patriarchy, racism, and peace and the challenges to it. The textbook looks at development in detail, especially in the post-war era, and rethink of models of development, particularly in the context of social and ecological costs, leading to people’s struggles such as the Narmada Bachao Andolan. The additional textbook in Political Science for Class XII begins with partition, Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, and the resultant clampdown on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The chapter on Emergency mentions the restrictions on the press during the time as well as the custodial death of engineering student Rajan in the wake of brute use force by State agencies. The State’s development model, based on decentralised planning and participatory model of public action, also find space in the lesson on five-year plans. Milkman of India Varghese Kurien’s role in the White Revolution also finds mention in the textbook, as do the Gujarat riots of 2002 and the Naxalbari movement.
The Sociology textbook for Plus Two has content on actor P.K. Rosy in the context of caste system, social reformer Ayyankali’s demand for education for Dalits, movements to enter place of worship, Channar revolt for women’s right to cover their chest, and the Kallumala agitation. The topic of tribes in India dwells on tribal communities in the State and mentions Sreedhanya Suresh, the first tribal woman from the State to clear the Civil Service examinations.
A lesson on social change and development has content on emergence of trade unions in the State, social movements as part of the national movement such as the Punnapra Vayalar revolt, the Plachimada protest in the globalised era, and the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad. The State’s landmark transgender policy is also included in a separate box in the lesson.
