The 33 academicians who have also asked NCERT to drop their names from political science textbooks include Kanti Prasad Bajpai, the former JNU professor who currently serves as the vice dean at National University Singapore; Pratap Bhanu Mehta, the former vice-chancellor of Ashoka University; Rajeev Bhargava among others.
The 33 authors in a letter dated June 14 said NCERT is making changes to the textbooks, which include deletions of sentences and removal of some sections (even chapters), which is unacceptable
"Since there are several substantive revisions of the original texts, making them thereby different books, we find it difficult to claim that these are the books we produced and to associate our names with them."
By Devika Mittal
For Nelson Mandela, education is the “most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” His assertion echoes the sentiment towards education across societies. While education is an important institution of socialization that strives to re-produce a society, it also carries a crusader image that can usher a desired change. This pertains to its potential to influence mindsets and guide action. This image and potential draw different interest groups, among which an important one is the modern nation-state.
Among the significant tasks taken up by the modern nation-states has been the formalization of education. Gellner (1983) links the need for formalization of education with the origin of nations and nationalism. He, like several others including Durkheim (1961), Green (1990), Hobsbawm (2000), Levinson (2011) and Smith (1991), delve into the role of schools and the education system to create a national identity and a