Kerala plans alternative textbooks to resist attempts to replace 'India' with 'Bharat'

Sivankutty said that Kerala was carrying out school curriculum revision in the most democratic manner by holding open discussions and inviting suggestions from all quarters.

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala is considering the option of bringing in new textbooks to counter the proposals to replace 'India' with 'Bharat' in textbooks of National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT).

Kerala had earlier introduced supplementary textbooks for higher secondary students by including portions like Mahatma Gandhi's assassination and Mughal kingdom that were removed from NCERT textbooks.

Kerala general education minister and CPM leader V Sivankutty said that such a counter measure would be initiated if NCERT implements the recommendations of the high-level committee for social sciences to replace the name 'India' with 'Bharat' in textbooks.

"Among the 124 textbooks being used in state schools in Kerala, only 44 are published by NCERT. If the Centre is going ahead with its vested interests, Kerala government would hold discussions with the state education board to explore the option of publishing those books in the state also," Sivankutty said.

He also recollected that Kerala had earlier brought out supplementary textbooks for higher secondary by including portions eliminated by NCERT.

He also said that Kerala was carrying out school curriculum revision in the most democratic manner by holding open discussions and inviting suggestions from all quarters.

The new textbooks would be introduced by 2024 and 2025 in all classes, he added.