Panaji: The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) will constitute a review committee to examine all National Education Policy (NEP)-aligned textbooks from Classes I to VIII for content refinements, typographical errors and continuity across grades.SCERT director Meghana Shetgaonkar said the decision was taken two months ago by the council’s steering committee after the completion of the new textbooks for Classes I to VIII.“The steering committee decided that once all the textbooks were ready, we would review them. We will check for typographical errors, content-related issues and any other concerns. There is always scope for improvement,” she said.The review committee will examine vertical progression across classes to ensure continuity in learning and assess whether competencies prescribed for each grade are aligned with those covered in the previous class.“When a policy is new, it is important to review it at every stage of implementation. We are forming one committee for Classes I to VIII so it can check vertical mobility, continuity and whether the competencies covered in one class are adequately built upon in the next,” Shetgaonkar said.She said the committee would conduct reviews every year, with revisions made wherever necessary by adding, deleting or correcting content and rectifying technical errors.Shetgaonkar said that preparing the new textbooks was a major exercise involving around 150 teachers and academicians over two years. SCERT developed 41 textbooks within a compressed timeline to meet the NEP implementation schedule, while ensuring that each book aligned with the new curriculum framework, prescribed competencies and age-appropriate learning outcomes.SCERT has also held a joint meeting with representatives of the directorate of official language, Goa Konkani Akademi, Goa Marathi Akademi and Goa Konkani Bhasha Mandal. Representatives of these organisations will be included in the review committee for Konkani and Marathi language textbooks.She said the language textbooks were developed from scratch to reflect Goa’s local context, history, geography and culture while meeting NEP requirements.
