The state government of Karnataka has ordered 18 modifications in Kananda and Social Science topics for classes 6 to 10, just days after the Karnataka Cabinet approved the revision of school textbooks to reverse the changes made during the previous BJP administration.
According to reports, the Karnataka Textbook Society released a list of revisions to reveal that RSS founder KB Hedgewar’s ‘Nijavada Adarsha Purusha Yaragabeku’ lesson that was included in the Class 10 textbook has been replaced by ‘Sukumara Swamiya Kathe’ written by Shivakotyacharya.
The poem ‘Kalavannu Geddavaru’ by KT Gatti, which starred Hindu freedom fighter Veer Savarkar, has been replaced in the Class 8 Kannada textbook with ‘Blood Group’ by Vijayamala Ranganath.
Madhu Bangarappa, the state’s minister of primary and secondary education, declared on Thursday that all the modifications made by the BJP government in 2022 have been undone. “Whatever changes they have done last year, we have changed it and reintroduced whatever was there last to last year. In the interest of the children, we have done the least now. That is only in the Kannada language from class 6 to 10, and social studies from classes 6 to 10,” he said.
Additionally, the class 8 Kannada textbook now includes the translation of ‘Magalige Bareda Patra’ written by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, and translated by Siddanahalli Krishna Sharma. The lesson introduced by the previous BJP administration- Parampalli Narasimha Aithal’s play ‘Bhoo Kailasa,’ has also been removed. Yudha by Sara Aboobacker has been substituted for Shatavadhani R. Ganesh’s ‘Shreshta Bharatiya Chintanegalu’ in the Class 10 Kannada textbook.
A Hindutva leader’s prose, ‘Taayi Bharatiya Amara Putraru,’ has been eliminated from the Class 10 Kannada textbook, among other revisions. Additionally, the board has replaced the class 10 Kannada textbook’s Shreshta Bharatiya Chintanegalu by Shatavadhani Ganesh with Yudha by Sara Aboobacker.
The Congress government has included lessons on the ‘Culture of the Vedic Period,’ ‘Rise of new Religions,’ and ‘Human Rights’ in the social science textbook for class 6. In the chapter on princely states in the class 7 social science textbook, they have added sections on ‘Women Social Reformers’ and ‘Women Freedom Fighters,’ as well as information on the Wadiyar rulers, Sir M Visvesvaraya, and Sir Mirza Ismail.
Moreover, the Class 10 Social Studies textbook has changed to promote linguistic pride. Sentences that previously conveyed regionalism and portrayed linguistic pride as narrow-mindedness in comparison to nationalism have been removed from the chapter titled “Bharathakke Iruva Savalugalu Matthe Pariharagalu” (Challenges and Solutions that lie ahead of India).
The majority of the elements that were implemented by a committee led by author Baragur Ramachandrappa between 2013 and 2018 while the Congress administration was in power have been taken back by the textbook committee. According to the state government, the modifications were made following a review by subject matter experts. All schools would receive the amendments as a corrigendum, and the department’s website would also make the changes public.
Notably, the changes have been introduced only a month after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured 66 seats in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections and lost the state to Congress who won 135 seats. The Congress in its manifesto earlier had pledged to undo the curriculum set by the BJP to textbooks. The changes were reportedly made after about 30 academics and writers met with CM Siddaramaiah on May 29 in Bengaluru and presented him with a memorandum outlining several requests for reforming the education system, including changes to textbooks and the outlawing of the hijab in educational settings.
The state who has excluded the chapters on Hindutva and Veer Savarkar has claimed that the textbook revision is in favor of the students. The said revision was decided on June 6 this year, to drop any ‘controversial and objectionable texts’ from the teaching, examination, and evaluation process.
