Read Editorial with D2G – Ep CXXXXV

In Read Editorial With D2G
May 17, 2016

RAJASTHAN SCHOOL BOARD IS NOT GOING BY THE BOOK

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 D2G wears no responsibility of the views published here by the respective Author. This Editorial is used here for Study Purpose. Students are advised to learn the word-meaning, The Art of Writing Skills and understand the crux of this Editorial.

MEANINGS are given in BOLD and ITALIC

It is a novel way to ‘improve’ educational standards by any yardstick (If you use someone or something as a yardstick, you use them as a standard for comparison when you are judging other people or things – मापदंड ). The Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education has decided to rejig (If someone rejigs an organization or a piece of work, they arrange or organize it in a different way, in order to improve it – बदलाव ) the school curriculum to obscure certain historic facts, cleverly add a few new ones and put a twist on others. So, we find no reference to Jawaharlal Nehru being the first prime minister of India, no mention of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination and the emperor Akbar being referred to without being called ‘Great’ — an honour that will now go to Maharana Pratap. The new curriculum, on the state education website, introduces new elements like the prime minister’s Maan ki Baat radio address, the Swachh Bharat scheme, the PM’s fitness habits and tales of gods and religious figures. A letter to a cow by a student also features.

It is no one’s contention (Someone’s contention is the idea or opinion that they are expressing in an argument or discussion – विवाद ) that textbooks not be rewritten from time to time to make them more contemporary (Contemporary things are modern and relate to the present time). But in this case the efforts of the State Institute of Education, Research and Training in Udaipur seem to be driven by particular political considerations. The education minister’s excuse that he has nothing to do with this autonomous body’s efforts seems a little incredulous (If someone is incredulous, they are unable to believe something because it is very surprising or shocking – समकालीन ) considering how active the government has been in its re-education efforts. The aim of the state education sector should be to provide children the necessary knowledge that will help them compete with the best anywhere. It should focus on improving conditions in schools, especially for the girl child, the quality of teaching and teacher training.

No doubt religious leaders and past tales of Indian culture and valour have their time and place in the child’s understanding of society and history, but this cannot be done by masking immutable (Something that is immutable will never change or cannot be changed – अडिग ) facts of our past. The fact that erstwhile rulers who resisted the Muslim kings are being highlighted reiterates that fact that this has more to do with ideology than improving educational standards. The tendency to politicise every aspect of life is something we have come to live with today. But the government has a duty to ensure that children are imparted the most accurate information in an interesting manner and not made to learn what can only be described as a distorted version of events and irrelevant or even doctored information.

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