NCERT panel unanimously approves name change of the nation in upcoming textbooks. Forthcoming books will reflects this alteration, affecting affecting the way the country is referred to in educational materials.
BI News,New Delhi : In a significant development, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) panel has unanimously endorsed the replacement of “India” with “Bharat” in their forthcoming textbooks. This change, proposed several months ago, has now received formal approval. It is intended to emphasize the traditional and culturally rooted name “Bharat” for the nation. Consequently, forthcoming NCERT books will reflect this alteration, affecting the way the country is referred to in educational materials.
The panel has recommended the adoption of ‘classical history’ nomenclature, replacing ‘ancient history’ in textbooks. The committee’s chairman, C I Issac, elaborated on these adjustments, underlining their significance.
According to Isaac, the panel has suggested replacing the name “India” with “Bharat” in the textbooks, introducing “classical history” instead of “ancient history” in the curriculum and including the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) in the syllabus for all subjects.
“The committee has unanimously recommended that the name ‘Bharat’ should be used in textbooks for students across classes. We have also recommended introducing ‘classical history’ instead of ‘ancient history’ in the textbooks,” Isaac told this correspondent.
He said the committee has also recommended highlighting “Hindu victories” in various battles in the textbooks. “Our failures are presently mentioned in the textbooks. But our victories over the Mughals and sultans are not,” said Isaac, who is also a member of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR).
The NCERT is revising the curriculum of the school textbooks in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The council recently constituted a 19-member National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTC) to finalise the curriculum, textbooks and learning material for these classes.
“The committee has also recommended the introduction of the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) in the curriculum of all subjects,” Isaac said.
“We have not accepted anything at the moment. The panel sent their report,” NCERT director said. The proposal was put forth several months ago.
This development comes amid Centre receiving backlash from the Opposition for replacing India with ‘Bharat’ in official documents such as invite, with the first such mention being on an ASEAN event invitation extended to PM Modi referring him as the “Prime Minister of Bharat”.
The India-Bharat row, however, gained pace when Rashtrapati Bhawan sent out invitations for a G20 dinner on September 9 on behalf of ‘President of Bharat’. Amid all this, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said that the connotation of the word ‘Bharat’ is reflected in the Constitution.
“India, that is Bharat, is there in the Constitution. Please, I would invite everybody to read it,” Jaishankar had said while speaking to the media.
Congress leader Priyank Kharge and Arpan Pandey, while speaking about Centre’s move to change name on NCERT books, said: “This move was very evident. The government is on a name-changing spree. No game-changing scheme is happening, only name-changing schemes are happening. Why the sudden hatred for the name INDIA? Why did they wait for nine years?”
