Karnataka makes 8 tweaks in revised textbooks

BENGALURU: Heeding pressure from various quarters, the Karnataka government on Monday ordered eight corrections in textbooks revised by the committee headed by Rohith Chakrathirtha but rejected the demand for their withdrawal.
The government has effected eight corrections, including addition of the phrase 'Architect of the Constitution' to BR Ambedkar in the chapter 'Our Constitution' in the Class 9 Social Science - Part 1 textbook.The corrections will be incorporated in soft copies of the textbooks on the Karnataka Textbook Society website. The society will print the corrigendum and give copies to all schools free of cost.
Demand for withdrawal of textbooks turned down
The government, however, turned down the demand for withdrawal of textbooks. "It is a general practice adopted by the education department to issue corrections through a corrigendum whenever textbooks are revised," the order said.
Certain contents revised by the disbanded Chakrathirtha committee had got flak from writers, academicians, religious heads and representatives of political parties and communities who accused it of giving misinformation about noted personalities and of trying to saffronise school education. Parts of the revised textbooks had also riled Vokkaliga, Lingayat and Dalit groups.
The CM disbanded the Chakrathirtha panel and formed a committee of teachers to suggest changes. They urged the government to withdraw the revised textbooks for a complete review. With these corrections, the government hopes to put to rest the row simmering for three months.