Bengaluru, DHNS: Revised textbooks will be introduced from Class I to X?in state schools from the academic year 2017-18 with curricula on a par with Central board syllabus.

The process of revision and review of the textbooks taken up by 27 committees headed by writer Baragur Ramachandrappa and 185 members will be completed by October this year.

In all, 363 titles in seven languages, including Kannada, English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu and Marathi are being revised. The revised textbooks will be applicable to all schools affiliated to the state board, including government, aided and private.

“A comprehensive exercise was taken up before starting the process of revising the textbooks. As many as 40 organisations, including teachers’ associations, subject experts, women’s commission, representatives of District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) were consulted. We also involved the public by calling for suggestions,”?Ramachandrappa said.

The Congress government decided to take up the revision of textbooks in January last after there were complaints from various groups that the previous BJP regime had made attempts to saffronise the syllabus and that the study material was full of errors.

Ramachandrappa said textbooks are not “party books” and steps have been taken to ensure that there is neither “Saffronisation or Congressisation”. He said thrust has been given to ensure there is gender equality in content and pictorial depiction besides equal representation of all regions of the state.

Ramachandrappa said there is a general feeling that syllabus of state schools should match the curriculum prescribed by National Council of Educational?Research and Training (NCERT) for schools affiliated to Central boards. “Sub-committees in mathematics, social studies and science were constituted to compare state syllabus with that of schools affiliated to Central boards and recommend suggestions in this regard,” he said.

Ramachandrappa said an apex committee headed by him has begun to scrutinise the recommendations made by 27 textbook revision committees. Primary and Secondary?Education Minister Tanveer Sait said it is for the first time that textbooks from Class I?to X are being revised at one shot.

He said once the content is finalised, a decision on the format of the textbooks, its size and quality of paper to be used will be taken. “Every aspect will be taken into consideration, including the weight of the textbooks,” Sait said.

Books to be hosted online
Karnataka Textbook Society (KTBS) managing director Nagendra Kumar said tenders for printing textbooks will be called for once the government gives a go-ahead. Kumar said all the textbooks will be hosted online on KTBS?website. (www.ktbs.kar.nic.in)

Sait said the printing process will be completed by February next year to ensure that the textbooks are available well before the commencement of the academic year.

A peep into the new textbooks
No religious bias in the content
Gender equality in content and pictorial depiction
Equal representation to writers of all regions of the state
Syllabus on a par with central board schools
Irrelevant and outdated material removed