Joshi is a liar, say Education ministers

The Education ministers of 16 states walked out from NCERT’s annual general body meeting alleging that the Centre was pushing its ‘‘hidden agenda’’ without evolving a national consensus on education.

HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi described the ministers’ agitation as a ‘‘move to politicise education’’. The ministers alleged Joshi ‘‘lied to Parliament, Supreme Court and the states’’ on changing school curriculum.

The ministers from 13 Congress-ruled states, and Left-ruled West Bengal and Tripura and RJD-ruled Bihar joined hands in attacking the Centre. Charging out of the meeting, Bengal Education Minister Kanti Biswas said: ‘‘They say they discussed changes with states at NCERT’s last general body meeting. That is a lie.’’

Joshi, however, said: ‘‘We sent the copy of National Curriculum Framework to all concerned.”