Opinion A textbook case

The new system,called the Samacheer Kalvi (meaning equitable education),envisaged the unification of four streams of education — the State Board,Matriculation,Oriental and Anglo-Indian — which were controlled by different boards that followed separate textbooks,syllabi and examination systems. The opposition to this has been two-fold — by private institutions and by the AIADMK. Since the new syllabus would erode the distinctness in course and curriculum that helped the growth of private institutions in the state,their managements approached the courts against the education act.

Since the newly prepared textbooks had many references to former chief minister M. Karunanidhi,these were unacceptable to the AIADMK and its leader Jayalalithaa in the land of personality cults. It was,therefore,not surprising that the issue was discussed at the very first cabinet meeting of the new government after the party returned to power. The next day,tenders were issued for printing textbooks under the old syllabus.

Soon,the government moved an amendment to the act that was passed by the state assembly,but this has been quashed by the courts.

In attempting to win through legislative measures what the private managements failed to achieve through legal processes,approaching the high court and later the Supreme Court,the issue became irreversibly political. It also led to a situation where the entire dialogue surrounding the new education system was about textbooks and references to Karunanidhi or his party,rather than what the act itself envisaged or,more importantly,what the committee originally recommended.

At the heart of this confusion is a simple matter of translation: “Samam” in Tamil means common,but it also means equality and equitable depending on the context. Hence,when the Muthukumaran Committee recommended a thorough overhaul of the school education system to ensure Samacheer Kalvi,it did not mean just uniformity of textbooks and exams but a much larger and nobler aim of equitable education.

While common syllabus is among the most significant recommendations,the committee had also suggested important steps,including improving the infrastructure of government institutions,enhancing the teacher-student ratio to 1:30,promoting self-learning systems,initiating environmental education from primary school,granting schools reasonable flexibility in choosing textbooks,and a neighbourhood school system. But over 100 of those recommendations went unheeded.

Even though the suggestions were radical compared to the extant system,they were not entirely new. Most of the ideas the committee suggested had their roots in the Kothari Commission of the early 1960s and the National Policy on Education Review Committee. They also drew inspiration from the positive aspects of the Right to Education Act.

The DMK government erred in including portions about its patriarch in textbooks. Even if it could be argued that Karunanidhi,the writer,playwright and activist,has contributed much to Tamil literature,referencing him in school textbooks sets a wrong precedent.

However,it was a mistake by the present regime to blow out of proportion its disapproval of the eulogising references in textbooks and dismiss the Samacheer Kalvi scheme in its entirety. In targeting her political rival,Jayalalithaa missed the big picture. Now,with the first bench of the high court of Madras and the Supreme Court quashing the amendment and directing the administration to rectify the mistakes rather than repeal the act,the state should take a step forward in improving the system. Equitable education is not just a socialistic dream but a constitutional obligation as well.

gopu.mohan@expressindia.com