ISSN (Print) - 0012-9976 | ISSN (Online) - 2349-8846

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Karnataka in Election Mode

Karnataka is the only state in South India where the Bharatiya Janata Party is in power. It is now battling anti-incumbency and the after-effects of its recent interventions with regard to reservations. It has moved the Muslims into the economically weaker sections and has recommended internal reservations among the Scheduled Castes. These strategies might add to confusion among the electorate.

Politics of Knowledge

The parallel coexistence of central and provincial spheres in education has a visible functional role but also a less visible political and an even less visible sociocultural role. Several decisions announced since the beginning of 2022 enable us to observe these disparate and simultaneous roles. Decisions taken in some of the states are quite noticeably related to impending assembly elections.

Can Ideas Be Deleted?

The recent reduction in the secondary and higher secondary school curriculum by the Central Board of Secondary Education has resulted in relief among most students while drawing criticism from teachers, scholars and academics who see a method into the presumably random deletion of topics to reduce the workload of students. The CBSE clarified that these are one-time changes resultant of the extraordinary situation arising from COVID-19. This article raises the critical question whether removing important conceptual notions as secularism, federalism and citizenship can lead to deletion of these ideas from the political discourse and public memory.

 

Proposed Ban on Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd’s Books in DU Raises Questions about the Future of Critical Thought

Scholars of social sciences write and teach from particular ideological and political frameworks, and to expect them to be “objective” or “non-partisan,” without any sensitivity to questions of power, takes away much needed perspectives of the marginalised sections of society in academia. Any critique of an academic work should stem not from unwillingness to deal with complex or discomfiting ideas, but from close reading and engagement. This article discusses these aspects in light of the recent call to ban Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd’s books from the University of Delhi’s MA Political Science reading list, as well as other instances of such interference in university curriculum in recent years.

Beyond the Oxymoronic Idea of No-detention Policy

The periodic debates on continuous and comprehensive evaluation and no-detention policy in media are completely futile, given the current class-wise structure of schools and curricula. As a result, elementary education gets defi ned by the number of years spent in school. The examination system thwarts all attempts at bringing reforms in pedagogy, curriculum and textbooks. Therefore, discarding both examinations and detention is necessary, and an alternative imagination of schools and curriculum organisation is imperative for the success of educational reforms.

School Education

The proposed National Policy on Education 2016 has important implications with respect to school education in India. While acknowledging some of its positive features, attention must be focused on objectives of education as espoused in the policy: key amendments suggested in the Right to Education Act, 2009; position and importance of Early Childhood Care and Education and reforms proposed in the curriculum and assessment practices in schools.

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