Accusing the previous governments of politicising the education system, Union Minister Satyapal Singh Thursday said that the shortcomings in the NCERT books would be rectified soon, PTI reported.
Responding to a query over a request by Madhya Pradesh government to “correct” a chapter, titled “Politics of Independent India”, in the Political Science textbook for Class 12, the former police commissioner said, “I thank you for bringing this to my notice. There has been no change in the NCERT (National Council Of Educational Research And Training) books since 2004 but we will rectify this immediately, though I don’t have the charge of school education.”
Mr Singh said that such contents showed that education was politicised earlier. “Education should not be politicised, whether it is the Congress or the BJP,” he said.
Among other things, the chapter describes the BJP as a party promoting “the agenda of Hindutva.”
The chapter also touches on the 2002 Godhra riots and mentions erstwhile Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s famous “follow the Raj-dharma” advice to the then Narendra Modi-led Gujarat government.
While admitting that the Indian education system lags at the world level, he said the HRD Ministry has started initiatives to develop ten government universities and a similar number of private ones into world class educational institutions.
Glorification of Sanjay Dutt should be avoided
Sanjay Dutt
When the minister was asked about his views on Sanjay Dutt byopic Sanju, he was quick to respond that the Bollywood actor should not be glorified.
“I think glorification of criminals should be avoided, whether it is Dawood Ibrahim or any other person. There should not be any glorification of Sanjay Dutt also. Truth should come out before the society,”he told reporters.
“I don’t watch films….I have not seen that film. Everybody knows about Sanjay Dutt…There is no question of my opinion (on the subject),” Mr Singh added.
