The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

EDUCATION

Sheila visits NCC camps
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 10
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit on Saturday called on the National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets who are camping in the Capital ahead of the Republic Day Parade.

Acknowledging the role of NCC in grooming tomorrow’s citizens, Ms Dikshit said India’s future was in safe hands. In her address, she also stated that she had seen a lot of improvement and progress in the standard of NCC in the past six years.

On her arrival at the NCC Camp, a contingent of immaculately turned-out cadets from all three wings of the Army, Navy and Air Force presented a guard of honour. She was taken around the flag area, the Motivation Hall and Aero Modelling and Ship Modelling Halls where items made by the NCC cadets were on display.

The Chief Minister showed keen interest in all the activities and appreciated the work being done by the cadets.

She said India was proud of its youth who were among the best in the world and exhorted them to keep in step with the technological pace to make India a world leader.

NCERT attacks Delhi Government stance
on textbooks
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 10
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has condemned the statement of the Delhi Government on shortage and standards of its textbooks.

The Delhi Government had earlier announced that it will not enforce the NCERT textbooks in the schools run by it, instead it will use the textbooks prepared by the SCERT. It was pointed out by the state government that not only is there a shortage of NCERT texts, but these books contain material which would hurt communities. Refuting the charges, the Council Director, Prof. J S Rajput, said: “Let the Delhi Government point out objectionable point or issue in the NCERT texts, which is written against national sentiment and ethos. Baseless attacks and unnecessary rabble rousing does not lead to any constructive and genuine solution”.

He added that the lines, which were found damaging to the image of Guru Teg Bahadur, Lord Mahavira and the Jat community, have been expunged.

Denying that there is a shortage of textbooks, Prof. Rajput said the Delhi Government has “created an artificial shortage of text books since 2003. This shortage has resulted from the government’s insistence that NCERT give the Delhi Bureau of Textbooks (DBTB) copyright to print the old NCERT texts, those conforming to the 1998 National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE)”.

Prof. Rajput said, “NCERT is willing to give the DBTB the copyright to print all texts designed according to the new NCFSE 2003, which is already under implementation in may states. Alternately, the NCERT is willing to supply the books if the Delhi Government so desires”.

He also asked the state government to clarify its decision. “It must state in unambiguous terms whether the SCERT texts will conform to NCFSE 2000. The state has not come out with any independent curriculum format or syllabus structure through wide consultation”.