New Delhi: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has introduced changes to its textbooks for classes three and six, sparking debate over the omission of the Preamble to the Constitution from certain books, The Hindu reported.
While the Preamble is included in some textbooks, such as the class six Science and Hindi books, it is noticeably absent from others, including the class six Social Science book and several class three textbooks. The fundamental rights and fundamental duties of citizens are mentioned in the class six Social Science book.
The new class three textbooks for Hindi, English, Mathematics, and ‘World Around Us’ (which replaces Environmental Studies or EVS) don’t include the Preamble, unlike the previous EVS and Hindi books which included it.
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NCERT’s head of curriculum studies and development, Professor Ranjana Arora, defended the changes, stating that the Preamble is not the sole reflection of Constitutional values. She emphasised the importance of fundamental duties, rights, and the National Anthem in shaping children’s understanding of the Constitution, aligning with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020’s vision of holistic development.
“For the first time, NCERT is giving great importance to various facets of the Indian Constitution — Preamble, fundamental duties, fundamental rights, and the National Anthem. All these are being placed in various textbooks of various stages,” Arora was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
She added: “The understanding that only the Preamble reflects the Constitution and Constitutional values is flawed and narrow. Why should children not acquire Constitutional values from the fundamental duties, fundamental rights, and the National Anthem, along with the Preamble? We give equal importance to all of these for the holistic development of children following the vision of NEP 2020.”