Opinion NCERT's attempt to change history in school textbooks undermines our diverse past

Indian Express

02-05-2025

The latest changes introduced by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in the social science and English textbooks for class VII have sparked many controversies. Previously, students of class VII had three separate books for history, geography, and social and political life. However, NCERT has now put these three subjects into one unified volume titled Exploring Society: India and Beyond (Part I). The second part of this new book is likely to come out within a few months. Previously class VII history book included sections on the medieval Delhi Sultanate (12th-15th centuries) and the rise of the Mughal Empire in the 16th century, but the new combined textbook has omitted these topics. NCERT has also not cleared its stance about whether these topics would be covered in the forthcoming second volume. Many educationists are sceptical about the inclusion of these topics in the second part of the book. Such scepticism is indeed not unfounded.
In the recent past, NCERT has introduced other curriculum changes that have provoked debate. For instance, last year, it made significant revisions to the class XII history syllabus, pointing out that the recent archaeological research effectively dismissed the theory that the fall of the Harappan civilisation was caused by the migration of the Aryans into India. Such a change clearly implies that the Aryans should not be considered foreigners to the Indian subcontinent. Similarly, in a class VI history textbook, the NCERT removed the word 'Hindu' from a chapter on Birsa Munda. The earlier edition of the book mentioned that Birsa Munda had 'opposed the missionaries and Hindu landlords.' In the new edition, the word 'Hindu' was deleted from this sentence.
The new class VII social science textbook includes a chapter titled 'How the Land Became Sacred.' It begins with a quotation from the Bhagavata Purana and discusses the sacredness and significance of pilgrimage sites for all religions. The chapter even contains a special section on the Kumbh Mela. Naturally, academics have questioned whether a school textbook can have a chapter on the sacred nature of religious sites at all.
It is evident that in making changes to the school textbooks, NCERT's primary target is history. It seems that NCERT aims to present a fragmentary picture of Indian history to the students that is likely to erase the image of a country that celebrated unity in diversity. Notably, for the ideological purposes of the state, young minds happen to be the most fertile breeding ground.
Louis Althusser showed long ago that among the ideological state apparatuses, the school is the most powerful and effective one in modern times. A child spends most of the time of a day in school. To a child, a textbook can appear as the gospel truth. This is why, silently, the state performs the task of manipulating future citizens using the school as an ideological state apparatus.
Two important points need to be noted here. First, in a post-modern sphere of understanding, nobody can call history sacrosanct. Multiple interpretations of a historical event are, of course, always available. The perspective chosen for writing a historical event determines which version of history will be presented to the readers. But can well-established facts ever be altered? For instance, Birsa Munda fought against Hindu zamindars; this is a fact. Similarly, will the history of India be complete without the Mughal era?
Second, the NCERT is an autonomous central body. It can prepare textbooks and advise on various subjects for both the central and state school boards, but it cannot compel all the boards to adopt its recommendations. The reason is simple. Since education is on the concurrent list of the Indian Constitution, state governments are not always obliged to accept the recommendations of NCERT. For example, in West Bengal, the English-medium schools affiliated with the state's Board of Secondary Education do not use NCERT textbooks. The same is true in many other states of India. Even the ICSE board mostly does not use NCERT books. Only the CBSE board religiously uses NCERT textbooks. So, the ideological turn is not going to have a large-scale impact across the schools.
Against this backdrop, one must return to Althusser. He maintains that even within a state-controlled system of education, there are always a few teachers who do not teach students toeing the ideological line; rather, they teach them to think differently. Many may recall the school Udayan Pandit runs in Satyajit Ray's film Hirak Rajar Deshe. Despite the oppression of the state, it is ultimately Udayan Pandit who comes out victorious in his rebellion against the King. There are many Udayan Pandits even in the schools that teach NCERT textbooks. It should also not be forgotten that the federal structure of India is the greatest safeguard for the ethos of unity in diversity in India. Moreover, history is not written only on the pages of textbooks; history is also inscribed in the collective memory of people. Memory cannot be erased at will.