The politicisation of education in India is not a new phenomenon. Victors everywhere always get to write history, and triumphalism is a temptation few can resist. The current debate over school textbooks is, however, of a different dimension: it is primarily driven by the fear that things are going too far by letting books written by the likes of Dina Nath Batra to be prescribed or even recommended in Gujarat’s schools. Academics and historians say the inaccuracies in these texts are not just aberrations.
The use of fanciful imagery and the constant harking back to ancient India, like the Vedic era when people may have been ahead of their time in mathematics, may cause irreparable damage to young and impressionable minds. But worse than the nostalgic references to ancient India is the leavening of certain questionable political ideas. A scientific temper can only be inculcated in the young by adopting internationally-accepted education practices that bring out the best from enquiring minds. The move away from rote learning must focus on stoking the imagination of the young to ask critical questions.
What then is the need for silly political posturing in textbooks? Should the young be told that redrawing India’s map in line with vague political ideals is vital? The foreword to one book by the Prime Minister, lauding the author for imaginative thinking, may give the impression that this move has the blessings of the highest quarters. Let us not expose India’s young to any kind of political ideology, of whatever variety.
