Textbook of all subjects will be improved: Minister

Textbooks of all subjects will be improved, Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty has said.

Responding to criticism of revision of Class I textbooks that were newly introduced this year, the Minister, in a Facebook post on Sunday, said it was government policy to collect feedback from teachers and improve textbooks.

The textbooks were prepared by a small group of experts, and only when widely used could their problems and possibilities be understood. As textbooks were printed every year in the State, these should be improved every year as well. This should not be construed as a complete revision of textbooks. Teachers’ creative responses would be accepted. This was a democratic approach, he said.

There were people who believed the textbooks should be changed only after five years. However, that approach neglected practical realities and was unacceptable. The idea was to retain achievement, improve continuously, and elevate quality. The government, he underlined, would not compromise on quality.

The new textbooks prepared under the second Pinarayi Vijayan-led government had brought back the alphabets in the textbook. Chapters were prepared to enable all students to understand the alphabets. They were taught in a manner that they could write and pronounce all alphabets. This approach could take more time, but should not be seen as a problem, the Minister said.

That Kerala had introduced the Preamble to the Constitution in textbooks was very relevant in the current situation. This too was realised through textbook revision undertaken by the current government, the Minister wrote.

Published - November 17, 2024 09:24 pm IST