Uttarakhand Education Minister Says "Will Implement NCERT Panel Recommendations In State"

Dehradun: Uttarakhand School Education Minister Dhan Singh Rawat said Thursday the recommendation of a high-level committee set up by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) will be implemented in the state. The committee for social sciences constituted by the NCERT to revise the school curriculum has recommended replacing "India" with "Bharat" in school textbooks for all classes, introducing "classical history" instead of "ancient history" in the curriculum and including the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) in the syllabus for all subjects.

NCERT Chairman Dinesh Saklani has, however, said no decision has been taken yet on the panel's recommendations.

However, Uttarakhand Education Minister Rawat said on Thursday instructions have been issued to Vandana Garbyal, the director of State Educational and Training Institute, to implement the recommendations of the NCERT panel in the textbooks of the state.

"The NCERT committee has recommended writing 'Bharat' instead of 'India' in books. Apart from this, the committee has also recommended to introduce 'Bharati gyan pranali' (Indian Knowledge System) in all courses," Rawat said during his Rajasthan visit, according to a statement issued here by his Public Relations Officer and Media in-charge V P Singh Bisht.

Rawat said the state government has already decided to include the Indian Knowledge System in the school curriculum. Under the provisions of the National Education Policy-2020, a book named 'Hamari Virasat' will be included in the curriculum, he said.

In the first phase, the book will be introduced in classes 6th to 8th, he said, a five-member committee has been formed under the chairmanship of Garbyal to compile the book.