Kolkata: A chapter on Singur will no longer be part of class 8 history textbook. Instead, a chapter on the formation of West Bengal as a state, highlighting Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s contribution, will be included in the curriculum. Moreover, references to the Kanyashree scheme in the health and hygiene textbooks for classes 6 to 8 will be omitted.These are part of the final draft of revised syllabus that the new syllabus-cum-curriculum committee has prepared before sending it for print.In 2017, the previous Trinamool govt included the anti-land acquisition movement in Singur, led by former CM Mamata Banerjee when the Left Front was in office, in the state board class 8 history curriculum. The issue, which spanned 2006 to 2008 and forced the Tata group to abandon its Nano car project in Singur, was part of a chapter, ‘Ateet O Oitijhyo (Past and Heritage)’.But after BJP came into office in Bengal, several functionaries opposed its inclusion, citing several names, including that of former education minister Partha Chatterjee, who was jailed on corruption charges, as one of the reasons. “The way the Singur movement was presented in the text was distorted. Students should not be misled. The chapter will not be included in textbooks for the upcoming academic session,” said a BJP functionary.Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari and school education minister Dipak Barman had previously indicated that the govt was considering a proposal to revise syllabus at state schools. The syllabus-cum-curriculum committee was asked to prepare a final draft, outlining corrections so that changes could be implemented for the new academic session beginning Jan.The creation of West Bengal will be part of class 8 history textbook in the Indian freedom movement section. It will be in the chapter, Modern Indian History, highlighting Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s contributions. “The topic has not been introduced abruptly, it is included within the contextual framework of the Indian freedom movement, in which Syama Prasad Mookerjee made an immense contribution that students need to learn about,” said a member of the committee.Referring to the Kanyashree scheme in health and hygiene textbooks for classes 6, 7 (project) and 8, where it was highlighted with real-life examples, the committee member said, “A govt scheme can never be part of a school curriculum. So these sections need to be omitted.” In the class 8 textbook, a section, where the Kanyashree scheme is mentioned and Asian Games gold medallist Swapna Barman is called ‘Kanyashree’s icon Swapna Barman’, will be omitted in the revised edition.
