Will remove ’saffronisation’ from textbooks, says head of revision panel

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, December 21, 2015 DHNS: Kannada writer Baraguru Ramachandrappa, who heads the Textbook Revision Committee formed by the State government, has reassured that any instance of saffronisation in school textbooks would be removed and no influence of any political party allowed to creep into the syllabus.

“Be it saffronisation or Congressisation, no influence of any political party will be allowed in the textbooks,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a programme on ‘School textbooks based on scientific and democratic principles’ organised by the All India Save Education Committee here on Sunday.

Prof Ramachandrappa asserted that if there was any hint of the government pressuring him to do otherwise, he would “step down from the post of the chairman of the Textbook Revision Committee.”

Pointing to a number of errors in textbooks, he said the committee would not only correct them but also rewrite whole chapters and even change the syllabus if needed. A government order in this regard has already been issued, he added. He also revealed a proposal to rename the committee ‘Comprehensive Review and Restructuring Committee.’
The government had appointed 185 members to 27 committees to revise 352 titles in seven mediums of instruction to review textbooks. While textbooks for the year 2016 will have minor changes, the full changes will be brought in from 2017, he added.

Prof Ramachandrappa also suggested that the government scrap the Right to Education (RTE) Act in Karnataka, saying it “encouraged” privatisation of school education and “weakened” government schools. “Private schools have been reimbursed Rs 165 crore for enrolling poor students under the RTE quota. This money could instead have been used to improve government schools,” he said.

Baraguru Ramach­a­n­­drappa, Kannada writer: Private schools have been reimbursed
Rs 165 crore for enrolling poor students under the RTE quota. This money could
instead have been used to improve government schools.