NCERT: Not a textbook panel

The NCERT has recently established a panel of 19 experts to develop new textbooks in accordance with NEP-2020. The panel comprises notable figures like Sudha Murthy, musician Shankar Mahadevan, badminton player Vimal Kumar, and economist Sanjeev Sanyal, among others. The creation of effective textbooks necessitates a profound understanding of teaching and learning. Crucial knowledge for crafting comprehensive textbooks spanning classes 3 to 12 includes:

Insight into a child’s cognitive development, including how children learn, idea formation, growth, and development at different ages and learning stages, and understanding of children’s emotional needs. Familiarity with the philosophical basis of the curriculum that includes the definition of knowledge, epistemological standards in various subjects, and alignment of knowledge with the educational goals of NEP-2020.

Grasping the sociological context of learners, addressing a diverse classroom with learners from different classes, castes, genders, linguistic, and religious backgrounds. This includes an understanding of justice, fairness, equity, and democracy in education.

Proficiency in pedagogic methods and evaluation, including knowledge of organising and presenting content, handling transition stages and how textbooks address them, approaches to introducing the content, proposing activities aligned with curriculum goals, diverse assessment techniques, and ensuring goal attainment

Subject expertise in teaching, covering content knowledge and flow, relevant resources, and materials. The comprehensive knowledge mentioned above is indispensable for anyone engaged in education—teaching and learning alike.

Considering these criteria, one might question how the 19-member panel will effectively guide the Curricular Area Groups (CAG) that will be established. Except for the chairperson, M C Pant, director of NIEPA (the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration), the panel appears lacking in the required subject expertise or educational knowledge. This absence of expertise raises concerns about the panel’s ability to fulfil its role effectively and do justice to the nature of the job at hand.

The establishment of such a panel seems to de-professionalise education, suggesting that anyone and everyone can be involved. This echoes the discourse concerning teachers in India as well. Is the country lacking educationists who have founded and managed schools, university professors, experienced teacher educators, researchers in philosophy, child development, and sociology of education, teachers with pedagogical insights, linguists, historians, and subject experts with teaching experience? The expert panel should ideally consist of such individuals who would be able to lead and guide a group of teachers, subject matter specialists, and teacher educators.

In a country like India, textbooks are often the only resource that is available to a teacher, and most teachers tend to adhere closely to the contents of the textbook. The NCERT textbooks serve as an important guiding document.

However, the fanfare and blitzkrieg around the panel and the way the committee is set up will not help in the development and review of meaningful textbooks that address the quality of education and reform the system. Education being a concurrent subject, the states may not come together to adopt such textbooks. It is to be noted at this juncture that NEP, prepared with similar fanfare and disregarding people with expertise in education, has not been adopted by 14 states. Similarly, the Kerala Government has indicated that it is planning to retain recently deleted content from the controversial history and sociology textbooks and include chapters on the Global Hunger Index, social change, development, etc.

One might argue that the panel comes from diverse backgrounds, such as musicians, economists, sportspersons, etc. However, the majority of panel members, 17–18 of them, are far removed from education, lack direct experience in teaching in diverse, under-resourced classrooms, and lack a theoretical grasp of the educational sciences. Integration of subjects and interdisciplinary understanding (promoted by NEP 2020) comes with strong subject expertise. Aside from Dr Manjul Bhargav, there are no mathematicians, historians, scientists, social scientists, or linguists.

Well-prepared textbooks hold immense potential to improve learning outcomes and address the quality of education and the learning gaps caused by school closures during the pandemic. Also, textbooks undergo revision once every decade or two. The last revision was carried out in 2005/2006. The textbooks take a few years to be implemented and used in the classroom. It is an important resource for teachers and students, and the NCERT needs to focus on the quality of education rather than the fanfare.

(The writer teaches at TAPMI, Manipal Academy of Higher Education,
Bengaluru)