Amid the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) book controversy, Centre has directed NCERT to review textbooks of all classes, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed Supreme Court today, March 11. The Solicitor General assured the court that panel of domain experts will examine curriculum, as reported by news agency.
The SC bench said that it will appreciate if Centre constitutes expert committee to review curriculum instead of asking NCERT.
Earlier, NCERT has tendered unconditional apology over Class 8 chapter on judiciary. NCERT in a post on X mentioned, "The Director and Members of NCERT hereby tender an unconditional and unqualified apology for the said Chapter IV. The entire book has been withdrawn and is not available."
"We sincerely regret the inconvenience caused and appreciate the understanding of all stakeholders. NCERT remains committed to maintaining the highest standards of accuracy, sensitivity, and responsibility in educational content," it added.
Following Supreme Court's direction, NCERT issued an advisory asking anyone with copies of the banned class 8 textbook that had a chapter on "judicial corruption" be returned to the council headquarters.
In a strongly worded advisory, the NCERT also called for all social media posts that carry the chapter's content be deleted. The Union Ministry of Education on Thursday wrote to the ministries of information and broadcasting, and electronics, asking them to stop the dissemination of a controversial NCERT textbook through digital platforms and electronic media after the Supreme Court imposed a ban on the social science book.
"Any individual or organisation in possession of the NCERT textbook 'Exploring society: India and Beyond', may return it to the (NCERT) headquarters. Any content related to the chapter 'role of judiciary in our society' if posted on social media or any digital platforms be deleted at the earliest possible," the advisory said.
What was the controversy all about?
The NCERT's Social Science textbook for class 8 states that corruption, a massive backlog of cases and the lack of an adequate number of judges are among the challenges faced by the judicial system. The NCERT has also apologised for "inappropriate content" after facing the Supreme Court's ire over the chapter and said the book will be rewritten in consultation with appropriate authorities.