During their electoral campaign in 2023, the Congress party in Karnataka had promised to make changes to the school curriculum when they came to power. Now, the Karnataka Congress government is actively pursuing its “election promises” to amend alterations made to textbooks during the preceding BJP government’s tenure, a move that has stirred considerable controversy.
In June 2023, the Karnataka government issued directives for immediate modifications to the content of Kannada and social science textbooks for classes 6 to 10, incorporating 18 significant changes, including the replacement of 15 lessons. A committee, led by Professor Manjunath Hegde, was subsequently formed to review these alterations, sparking discussions on the perceived impact of these revisions on the educational landscape.
One particularly contentious addition by the textbook revision committee is the introduction of “gender sensitivity” into the Social Science subject for Class 6, whose appropriateness and potential ideological implications of such content for young students were questioned by critics. Hindustan Times accessed the committee report and it stated “The social science textbooks have been revised giving importance to the Constitution, gender sensitivity, child rights, democratic and secular values, and scientific temper.” According to a report by The News Minute, class 6 students would introduced to LGBTQI+values.
The alterations also include replacing the term ‘Religion’ with ‘Dharma’ in the syllabus of Class 7 and shifting from ‘Values of Veerashaiva Pantha’ to ‘Values of Basavadi Sharanas’ in the History curriculum for Class 8. The Class 8 History textbook now reflects a change in the chapter title from “Indus-Saraswati Civilisation” to “Civilisations of Ancient India: Indus-Sarasvati Civilisation and Vedic Period.”
Class 9 History now highlights the contributions of figures like Kanaka Dasa, Purandara Dasa, and Shishunala Sharifa to the Bhakti movement.
Additionally, the Karnataka government’s curriculum overhaul includes the reintroduction of chapters by left-leaning writers dropped under the BJP government such as Girish Karnad, Devanur Mahadevam, P Lankesh, Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy, and Nagesh Hegde. Lessons on ‘reformers’ such as Savitribai Phule and EVR aka Periyar are also being reintroduced, which are being viewed as a departure from a more conservative approach adopted during the BJP’s tenure.
The Department of School Education and Literacy’s decision to print new textbooks for the upcoming academic year to implement these revisions has added fuel to the ongoing discourse surrounding the role of political ideologies in shaping educational content.
Congress fulfilling its election promises in Karnataka by revising school textbook content.
The textbook revision committee has added LGBTQI+ values in its Social Science subject – for Class 6!
They're coming for your kids, and you voted them to power! pic.twitter.com/yg3wSLMIDu
— Tamil Labs 2.0 (@labstamil) March 6, 2024
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