The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has modified its primary curriculum-drafting body, the National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTC), a move directly prompted by recent judicial intervention. This reconstitution saw the committee's membership reduced from 22 to 20 individuals, with the explicit removal of three members after a Supreme Court directive. The SC's order, issued on March 11, specifically targeted members involved in the development of a now-withdrawn Class 8 social science textbook, which contained content pertaining to "corruption in the judiciary." NCERT issued a notification on April 2 to formalize these changes.
The reshaped 20-member NSTC includes figures such as V Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras; Raghuvendra Tanwar, Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research; and R Venkata Rao, former Vice-Chancellor of the National Law School of India University. Also retained on the panel is Amarendra Prasad Behera, Joint Director-in-Charge of the Central Institute of Educational Technology, NCERT. Notably, the committee retains M C Pant, former Chancellor of the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, as its chairperson, and Manjul Bhargava, a mathematics professor from Princeton University, as co-chairperson.
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Those removed from the committee include Michel Danino, previously a guest professor at IIT Gandhinagar; M D Srinivas, chairman of the Centre for Policy Studies in Chennai; and the late Bibek Debroy, who formerly chaired the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council. The Supreme Court's directive for dissociation extended to institutions, not just individuals, leading to the exclusion of these figures from the panel responsible for creating educational materials for Grades 3 through 12. The council has issued a statement expressing regret for any disruption caused, emphasizing a commitment to "accuracy and sensitivity" in its educational content.
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The NSTC's mandate is to develop syllabi and teaching materials for school students. Its purview includes textbooks for grades 3 to 12, with provisions for adjusting content for younger students in grades 1 and 2 to ensure continuity. The Supreme Court had previously imposed a ban on the use of the problematic Class 8 textbook, in both physical and digital forms, following its review.
