Maam,the textbook has changed……Anahita Mukherji & Akshaya Mukul
A transformation has taken place in the classroom: NCERT has published textbooks that are pathbreaking and imaginative.A far cry from the dull fare of old,the new books are bright,thoughtprovoking and brimming with stories
A transformation has taken place in the classroom: NCERT has published textbooks that are pathbreaking and imaginative.A far cry from the dull fare of old,the new books are bright,thoughtprovoking and brimming with stories
Youd hardly expect to find scenes from a noisy Chennai fish market popping out of a mathematics textbook.But thats exactly what youll see when you flip through the pages of a class V NCERT text.Floramma,Gracy,Mini and Karuthamma squat on the ground,calling out the days prices to customers.Their baskets are laden with fresh catch.You might take them for fictitious characters,but the fact is that the pictures in the book are those of real people.Theres even one of a fisherwoman called Fazila lugging a rather large kingfish.
So what does this have to do with mathematics,you might ask.Well,the chapter uses living examples of fish,their shapes and sizes,as well as the capacity of fishing boats off Chennais coast to teach the principles of maths.We have done our best to create a culturally responsive mathematics curriculum, says Anita Rampal,chairperson of NCERTs primary textbook committee.Its a myth that mathematics and science are culture-neutral.We have attempted to bring indigenous knowledge into textbooks and have looked at math through the prism of everyday life.Instead of teaching through abstractions,the books tell real-life stories of people so that the youngsters can identify with the characters.
Rooting knowledge in the familiar context of contemporary settings is the guiding principle of the new school books rolled out by the National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT).From the brick patterns on the walls of a Murshidabad tomb to M S Dhonis score and from Rangoli designs to currency notes,its all creative fodder for the classroom.A diverse range of individuals,NGOs and government agencies came together to create these books that throw light on emerging areas of research such as environment science and urban governance,and in the process,clearing out ideological cobwebs to present a neutral but also brutal picture of Indian society and history.
Be it the Emergency,Babri Masjid or the Gujarat riots,no subject is seen as too controversial for a student.The approach is strictly non-judgmental.Emphasis has been placed on understanding marginalised communities like Dalits and tribals and the rural way of life.Remember the drudgery of drawing number lines in your math notebook In comparison,a number line in class III is now explained through the life of Pedki Devi,a villager from Jharkhand.She hurt her foot falling out of a jamun tree when she was five,was scolded at 10 for allowing a goat to stray,was married at 15,had four children by the time she was 24,and was a widow at 35.When she lost her husband,she was branded a witch and beaten up by her brothers-in-law.She fought a case against them.At 45,she learnt to read and write.Now I am 50.I enjoy playing with my grandchildren.Two of my children are studying in school, says Pedki Devi,as she ends her story.
Students have to mark out the ages at which various events occurred in Pedki Devis life on a timeline,an exercise that also gives them a glimpse into the life of a brave village woman.If the subjects reflect a rare sensitivity to cultural and social issues,the colours,design,and layout are a refreshing change from the mass of grey that dominated school texts for generations.Artists and illustrators of childrens literature were roped in to infuse vibrancy.
Ankita Kamath,a class VI student,says math is now her favourite subject.She loves studying the elementary shapes in geometry.The textbook has lots of interesting exercises that we can do ourselves, she says.We dont need to go for tuitions anymore. Even while dealing with less remote stories on urban India,the books help students discover secret concerns of their city which have passed them by.Many kids who visit water parks are unaware that there is a water shortage in the city they live in, says Rampal.They have little exposure to whats happening in their city,let alone the rest of the country. Nandita in Mumbai for class IV discusses water wars and the fact that people in Mumbai have to wake up at 4 am to fill buckets from a public tap.Instead of preachy messages on how they should save water,the textbooks attempt to tap a childs innate sense of empathy to communicate on topical questions.
The books are a huge hit with the kids and their teachers who have long felt that it was time for a radical departure from the dull gruel of earlier syllabi.Deepshikha Shrivastava,principal of Rajhans Vidyalaya,Mumbai,says the new textbooks allow teachers to channel their creativity.Earlier,teachers depended solely on the texts to teach a subject, she says.The latest ones get them to try out new ways of teaching. To start with,the textbooks have been introduced in all CBSE schools including Kendriya Vidyalayas,Navodaya Vidyalayas and private institutions.
The 10,000 CBSE schools in India cater to 3% of the total population of children.But over the last five years,theres also been a jump in the number of children using NCERT textbooks from 3% to 32% with around 15 states,including those ruled by the BJP and Left,adopting the books at various levels.While Goa was the first state to do so,right from classes I to XII,Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh have recently done it, says NCERT chairperson Krishna Kumar.
One reason for the pan-I ndian appeal has been the sheer diversity of content,with material compiled from all manner of sources.Friends and well-wishers shipped textbooks from other countries as prototypes,government agencies sent CDs,and even unknown bloggers pitched in.For a chapter on Hyderabads Golconda Fort for environmental studies in Class V,Rampal wanted photos that presented the monument in a new light,something she couldnt find anywhere.And then one day,she came across just what she was looking for on a blog.So I wrote to this blogger and asked him if I could use his pictures, she says.I also asked if he could provide us with high resolution pictures we could print. The man was more than willing.
The generous gesture has been the hallmark of this project.Rampal,who felt that the concept of a map was rarely explained properly,wanted both a map and an aerial photo of the area from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate in Delhi.After three months of looking,she found one that fitted the bill,in Khushwant Singhs book on Delhi.It was a photograph by none other than the celebrated Raghu Rai,who promptly allowed NCERT to run with it.
This ad-hoc harvest of knowledge has been rather successful but Rampal is aware that a more organised library of photos and textbooks needs to be put in place.She recently suggested that a national facility be set up to research NCERT textbooks.The updating of texts is a continuing process to make them a live chronicle of social and political change.The various state polls have to added.Hopefully,the new versions will have as much flavour and colour as the elections.
TEAM NCERT
* The texts were not one persons writing but the composite of interactions between academics and scientists.Certain ground rules were followed from the outset: Offer more than one perspective;Never make a final judgment;Use official sources;Do not fix political blame;Do not make adverse comments about anyone.
* From Jayant Narlikar for science to Namvar Singh for language,from Hari Vasudevan for social science to Anita Rampal for primary education,experts broadly oversaw the writing.
* There were also chief advisors for each subject like historian Neeladri Bhattacharya and political scientist Yogendra Yadav.And an apex monitoring committee of Mrinal Miri and GP Deshpande went through every single word to keep the tone secular and to keep out controversy.
* If this were not enough,the first draft was scutinised by three pairs of informed eyes Sunil Khilnani,Ramachandra Guha and Mahesh Rangarajan.
* Artists illustrating childrens literature were hired.They brought a richness of art to the table,from Warli and Kalamkari to modern and contemporary.