Private schools demand NCERT textbooks for class 1 to 4

Tired of waiting for the state government to update the textbooks for classes 1 to 4 under the state syllabus, private school managements demanded that the state should switch to the updated NCERT syllabus.

Addressing a press conference, members of Associated Management of Primary and Secondary Schools In Karnataka said they can’t afford to teach based on outdated and “substandard” textbooks when there are updated books from the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).

The managements alleged that the government was concentrating only on classes above 5. “We have raised this issue before the Karnataka Textbooks Society (KTBS), seeking a curriculum on a par with NCERT for Class 1 to 4 in Mathematics and EVS subjects (History, Geography and Science) at least. Children at schools affiliated to other boards are studying quality content. Even our children deserve to get standard content on a par with the NCERT syllabus,” said D Shashi Kumar, general secretary of the association.

“Even while framing the curriculum, the National Curriculum Framework 2005 recommendations were not followed by the state and we are teaching the same old textbooks to our students. The first five years of schooling for the children is crucial as
over 85% of a child’s brain evolves and children have the grasping capacity. We need to provide them with quality education at that level,” explained Kumar.

Expressing their refusal to accept the old textbooks for Class 1 to 4, the private school managements said they will not place indent for Mathematics and EVS textbooks for next academic year if KTBS fails to revise the textbooks of Class 1 to 4 as per the NCERT syllabus.