Lok Sabha Question No. 156 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-07-18
Subject: External Expert Consultants for NCERT Textbooks
Ministry: Education
Asked by: Faizal P.P. Mohammed

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.156 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18.07.2022

## External Expert Consultants for NCERT Textbooks

## 156. SHRI MOHAMMED FAIZAL P.P.:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

(a)  the  details  of  external  expert  consultations  held  as  part  of  the  recent  NCERT  textbook rationalisation exercise, including the qualifications of experts and number of such consultations;

(b)  the  reasons  for  consulting  external  experts  instead  of  social  scientists  associated  with  the

NCERT;

(c) whether the changes as part of the rationalisation exercise are temporary or permanent, given that the objective of the exercise is to ease learning in a post-COVID world and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether a standard criteria was applied to determine the portions to be retained and deleted from NCERT textbooks; and

(e) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SMT. ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a): The  details  of  the  external  experts  engaged  by  various  subject  departments  of  the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) as part of the rationalisation exercise  along  with  the  number  of  consultations  held  are  at  Annexure-I.    NCERT  also  held  a consultation meeting with the teachers nominated by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to discuss the rationalisation exercise done across the subject areas. The details of the teachers who attended this meeting are at Annexure-II.

(b): Aside from NCERT in-house experts, NCERT has informed that they seek expertise of subject experts from Universities/Organisations and practicing teachers in all its activities related to Research, Development, Training and Extension for wider consultation.

(c): During the COVID-19 pandemic situation, students across the stages of school education have struggled a lot to continue their learning through online and other modes. Also, concerns related to curriculum load including the content load spread over syllabi and textbooks have been raised  from  different  corners.  Further,  National  Education  Policy  (NEP)  2020  states  that  'the reduction in content and increased flexibility of school curriculum and the renewed emphasis on constructive  rather  than  rote  learning  must  be  accompanied  by  parallel  changes  in  school textbooks'.  With  a  view  to  facilitate  speedy  recovery  in  students  learning  continuum  and compensating time loss, NCERT took a step towards the rationalisation of textbooks across the stages and subject areas.

(d) and (e): NCERT  has  informed  that  the  following criteria  were  developed for the rationalisation of content load:

- a. Overlapping with similar content included in other subject area in the same class;
- b. Similar content included in the lower or higher class in same subject ;
- c. Difficulty level;
- d. Content, which is easily accessible to children and does not require much intervention from the teachers and can be learned through self-learning or peer learning;
- e. Content, which is not relevant in the present context or outdated;
- f. Taking care of the Learning Outcomes already developed across the classes.

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ANNEXURE-I REFERRED  TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) OF LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  156  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  18.07.2022  ASKED  BY SHRI    MOHAMMED  FAIZAL  P.  P.,  HON'BLE M.  P.  REGARDING  'EXTERNAL EXPERT CONSULTANTS FOR NCERT TEXTBOOKS'.

## 1. History

|   Sr.No. | Name of the external expert   | Qualification/Designation                                    |   No. of consultations |
|----------|-------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------|
|        1 | Prof. Umesh Kadam             | Professor of History, CHS JNU                                |                     01 |
|        2 | Dr. Archana Verma             | Associate Professor, History, Hindu College, DU              |                     01 |
|        3 | Mrs. Shruti Mishra            | PGT History, HOD History, DPS R.K. Puram Sec 12, New Delhi   |                     01 |
|        4 | Mr. Krishna Ranjan            | PGT, History, KVs, Vikas Puri, Uttam Nagar, New Delhi        |                     01 |
|        5 | Mr. Sunil Kumar               | PGT, History, KVS Badarpur road, AFS, Tughlakabad, New Delhi |                     01 |

## 2. Economics

|   Sr.No. | Name of the external expert   | Qualification /Designation           |   No. of consultations |
|----------|-------------------------------|--------------------------------------|------------------------|
|        1 | Dr. Sabita Patnaik            | PGT Economics, DMS, RIE, Bhubaneswar |                     01 |
|        2 | Dr. Anita Raveendran          | PGT Economics, DMS, RIE, Mysore      |                     01 |

## 3. Political Science

|   Sr.No. | Name of the external expert   | Qualification /Designation                                                       |   No. of consultations |
|----------|-------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------|
|        1 | Dr. Vanthangpui Khobung       | Assistant Professor, Political Science, RIE, Bhopal                              |                     02 |
|        2 | Mrs. Kavita Jain              | PGT, Political Science, Ashok Vihar, Phase-I, Delhi - 110 052                    |                     02 |
|        3 | Dr. Maneesha Pandey           | Department of Political Science, Hindu College, Delhi University                 |                     02 |
|        4 | Ms. Sunita Kathuria           | PGT, Political Science, MCL Saraswati Bal Mandir, L-Block, Hari Nagar, New Delhi |                     02 |

## 4. Geography

|   Sr.No. | Name of the external expert   | Qualification /Designation                                           | No. of consultations   |
|----------|-------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------|
|        1 | Mr. Kulprit Singh             | PGT, Geography, Navyug School, Vinay Marg, Chanakya Puri, New Delhi. | 01                     |
|        2 | Mr. Pushpendra Singh          | PGT, Geography, Prudence School, Ashok Vihar, New Delhi              |                        |

## 5. Commerce & Business Studies

|   Sr.No. | Name of the external expert   | Qualification /Designation                     |   No. of consultations |
|----------|-------------------------------|------------------------------------------------|------------------------|
|        1 | Mrs. Savita Shangari,         | PGT (Retd.) Saket, New Delhi                   |                     01 |
|        2 | Dr. Seema Srivastava          | Asstt. Professor, DIET, R.K. Puram, New Delhi. |                     01 |
|        3 | Mr. Sandeep Sethi             | PGT, SV Public School, Jaipur.                 |                     01 |
|        4 | Dr. Gurmeet Singh Grewal      | CA and Pracademic, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi      |                     01 |
|        5 | Mr. Sunder Singh Sehrawat     | DC (Retd.)., KVS                               |                     01 |

## 6. Sociology

|   Sr.No. | Name of the external expert   | Qualification /Designation                                                                               |   No. of consultations |
|----------|-------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------|
|        1 | Prof. Manju Bhatt             | Former Professor of Sociology, DESS,NCERT                                                                |                     03 |
|        2 | Dr. Achala Pritam Tondon      | Associate Prof. in Sociology Associate Professor, Sociology, Hindu College, Delhi University, New Delhi. |                     03 |
|        3 | Ms. Seema Banarjee            | PGT Sociology, Laxman Public School, Hauz Khas Enclave, New Delhi                                        |                     03 |
|        4 | Ms. Abha Seth                 | PGT Sociology, DAV Public School, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi                                                 |                     03 |

## 7. Psychology

|   Sr.No. | Name of the external expert                                                  | Qualification /Designation                                                                       |   No. of consultations |
|----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------|
|        1 | Ms. Neelam Srivastava, PGT (Psychology), Vasant Vally School, New Delhi      | M. A. (Psychology), B.Ed., PG Diploma in Counselling                                             |                     01 |
|        2 | Ms. Gurjeet Kaur, PGT (Psychology), DAV Public School, Vasant Kunj New Delhi | M. A. (Psychology), M. Ed.                                                                       |                     01 |
|        3 | Dr. Shalini Prasad, PGT (Psychology), DPS, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi            | M.A.(Psychology), Ph. D. (Psychology), PG Diploma in Guidance and Counselling, B. Ed. (Pursuing) |                     01 |

ANNEXURE-II REFERRED  TO  IN REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.156  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  18.07.2022  ASKED  BY SHRI    MOHAMMED    FAIZAL    P.    P.,  HON'BLE  M.P.  REGARDING  'EXTERNAL EXPERT CONSULTANTS FOR NCERT TEXTBOOKS'.

|   S.No. | Subject           | Name                    | Address                                                         |
|---------|-------------------|-------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | Maths             | Mr. Rahul Sofat         | Air Force Golden Jubilee School, Subrato Park                   |
|       2 | Maths             | Ms. Gurpreet Bhatnagar  | HoD Maths, Delhi World Public School, Noida Extn.               |
|       3 | Science/ PCB      | Ms. Monica Arora        | Bal Bharati Public School, Rohini                               |
|       4 | Science/ PCB      | Ms. Mridula Arora       | Navyug School, Pandara Road                                     |
|       5 | Science/ PCB      | Ms. Monika Sindhwarni   | Bal Bharati Public School, Rohini                               |
|       6 | History           |                         | HOD Social Science & History, ASN S.S. School, Mayur Vihar      |
|       7 | Political Science | Ms. Vinita Rikhi        | HOD Social Science & History, ASN S.S. School, Mayur Vihar      |
|       8 | Hindi             | Mr. Sanjay Kumar Malik  | PGT Hindi, KVSec - 8, Rohini                                    |
|       9 | Hindi             | Dr. Shubh Narayan Singh | PGT Hindi, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Kendriya Vidyalaya               |
|      10 | English           | Ms. Sunila Athley       | Amity International School, Vasundhra                           |
|      11 | English           | Ms. Rachna Rai          | Amity International, Vasundhra                                  |
|      12 | Economics         | Ms. Sandhya Arora       | PGT, Manav Rachna International School, Gurgaon                 |
|      13 | Business Studies  | Ms. Neha Malhotra       | PGT, NC Jindal Public School, Delhi                             |
|      14 | Accountancy       | Mr. Ashish Sawhney      | Principal, Bal Bharati Public School, Dugri Phase III, Ludhiana |
|      15 | Geography         | Mr. Pushpendra Singh    | PGT Geography, Presidium School, Ashok Vihar                    |
|      16 | Psychology        | Ms. Cimeran Kher        | PGT, Psychology, Modern School, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi      |

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