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devalue students’ degrees and bring and staunch nationalists.
Maharashtra’s universities into disre- That’s why previous govern-
pute. Meanwhile, all eyes are on the ments rightly celebrated
Supreme Court which is set to deliver Tipu’s birth anniversary
its verdict on August 14. annually since 2015,” says
Dipta Joshi (Mumbai) Shashikumar.
Moreover according to
KARNATAKA him, apart from token reduc-
Syllabus pruning row tion of politically selected
portions, the syllabus has not
been pruned. “The number
ith karnataka’s 49,855 of study periods has been
government schools shut- reduced from 180 to 120. But
Wtered for five months fol- children have to cover almost
lowing the outbreak of the Covid-19 Education minister Suresh Kumar: hold directive the entire syllabus. This will
pandemic, the state’s education impose tremendous stress
ministry issued an order on July 25 majoritarian BJP which has been on teachers and pupils and damage
directing the Karnataka Text Book ruling the Centre since 2014 and is learning outcomes,” he warns.
Society (KTBS) to reduce the pre- currently the ruling party in Karna- gainst this backdrop, informed
scribed state board syllabus for the taka (pop. 64 million). Therefore, the Aeducators suggest syllabus
academic year 2020-21, which began Congress party alleges that by citing pruning should be left to school
in June, by 30 percent. pandemic-related compulsions for managements. “It is necessary to cut
Addressing the media, KTBS reducing the school syllabus, the rul- the syllabus short for the truncated
director Made Gowda said the ing BJP has seized the opportunity academic year as we have lost three
maximum syllabus reduction will to excise Muslim rulers Hyder Ali months of the 2020-21 academic
be in literature, environment sci- and Tipu Sultan, from school history year already. It is advisable to reduce
ence and social science subjects. In textbooks. content in social sciences rather
particular, the chapters referring to Comments D.K. Shivakumar, than maths and science because the
the 18th century Anglo-Mysore wars president of KPCC (Karnataka latter are integrated subjects while
(1767-1799) between the British and Pradesh Congress Committee): “We history can be read any time later.
Mysore ruler Hyder Ali and subse- cannot accept the BJP government Therefore, teachers are best judges
quently his son Tipu Sultan, would rewriting history. Hyder Ali and of what should be excluded from
be omitted from class VII and IX Tipu are a part of Karnataka history prescribed syllabuses,” says Dr. M.
textbooks, he added. and history cannot be changed.” Srinivasan, founder-principal of
This proposal has provoked a However, Made Gowda refutes the the CBSE-affiliated Gifted Education
major outcry from the opposition charge saying the details of the 18th and Research (GEAR) Innovative
Congress party and liberal academ- century Mysore rulers are included International School (estb.1995),
ics of the state. In 2015, the state’s in class VI and X textbooks although Bangalore.
Congress government had celebrated proposed to be deleted in class VII Following the furore over exci-
the birth anniversary of Tipu Sultan and IX texts. sion of portions related to Hyder
positioning him as a great freedom This contention is flatly con- Ali and Tipu Sultan from textbooks,
fighter against British rule in the tradicted by D. Shashikumar, on July 29, education minister S.
kingdom of Mysore (renamed Karna- general secretary of the Karnataka Suresh Kumar directed KTBS to put
taka in 1973). Associated Managements of English its decision on hold. Meanwhile,
However, it’s pertinent to note Medium Schools (KAMS, estb.1988) KTBS is still working on the class
that Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan which has a membership of 2,000 I-X syllabus reduction because of the
were Muslim rulers of the Mysore affordable private schools statewide. forced closure of operations due to
kingdom, and some historians have “The social science textbooks of class the pandemic. “We will soon submit
recounted horror stories of Tipu forc- VI and X do not contain chapters our report to the minister and he
ibly converting Hindus to Islam and on Tipu Sultan. The government will take a final call on the portions
conducting massive executions and has taken advantage of the crisis to be omitted this year,” says Made
torture of reluctant Hindu subjects to remove all references to Hyder Gowda. But although KTBS officials
especially in Coorg (Kodagu) district. Ali and Tipu Sultan because of its have been debating the syllabus issue
This latter narrative has always been anti-Muslim bias. In fact, they were since May, there is still no clarity on
accepted by the right-wing Hindu popular rulers of the Mysore region the subject.

20 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2020