NCERT reconstitutes textbook committee after Supreme Court rap

The National Curriculum and Teaching Learning Materials Committee (NSTC), which oversees the creation of new textbooks, was reconstituted by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) following the Supreme Court’s intervention in the “corruption in the judiciary” chapter in the now discontinued Class 8 social science textbook.

In a notice dated April 2, accessed by HinduNCERT stated that it has reconstituted the 22-member high power committee, which now includes IIT Madras Director V. Kamakoti; and Raghuvendra Tanwar, Chairman, Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR); R. Venkata Rao, former Vice-Chancellor of National Law School of India University (NLSIU); and Amarendra Prasad Behera, Joint Principal Director, Central Institute of Educational Technology, NCERT. The committee currently consists of 20 members

Three members – Michel Danino, former visiting professor at IIT Gandhinagar; MD Srinivas, chairman of Chennai Center for Policy Studies, and late Bibek Debroy, former chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC), were removed from NSTC.

Mr. Danino’s removal from the NSTC followed the apex court’s order stating that the Centre, States, union territories, universities and public institutions should be separated from three members of the textbook development team who prepared the Class 8 social science textbook chapter on the jurisdiction in question.

The Supreme Court held its meeting in February suo motu Considering a Grade 8 social sciences textbook published in February that discussed a chapter on “corruption in the judiciary” and later imposing a “total ban” on the use of physical or online copies of that textbook.

NCERT reconstituted the committee nearly three years after it first constituted it in July 2023. “In view of the need to strengthen the said committee through necessary updates, including additional members, restructuring of the NSTC has been undertaken,” the notification reads.

The notification states that the committee has the authority to develop the school curriculum and teaching-learning material, including textbooks from Class 3 to Class 12 (and, if necessary, revise the existing textbooks of Classes 1 and 2 as appropriate to ensure smooth transition from Class 2 to Class 3).

In the reconstituted NSTC, NCERT has retained former National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) Chancellor MC Pant as president and Princeton University mathematics professor Manjul Bhargava as co-chairman. 14 other members of the erstwhile committee, including Infosys Foundation chairperson Sudha Murty, singer Shankar Mahadevan, Chamu Krishna Shastry, president, Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti and EAC-PM member Sanjeev Sanyal, were also retained.

Since its formulation, NSTC has been tasked with developing school curricula and new textbooks in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE) 2023.

The initial notification in July 2023 formulating the NSTC also mentioned the creation of curriculum area groups (CAGs), with Mr Danino heading the CAG for Social Sciences. There is no mention of CAGs in the current notification talking about restructuring of NSTC.

The new notification also states that NSTC will be assisted by textbook development teams in developing syllabus and textbooks for each subject.

“NSTC, in consultation with NCERT, shall be free to invite other experts for advice, consultation and support as required. NSTC will be supported by a program office established by NCERT and NCERT will provide all necessary expertise and support as per the needs of NSTC.”