Mamata Banerjee government, which has found over-emphasis to Marxism and Leninism in text books, has set up a committee to review school syllabus.
Continuing with its controversial decisions to undo Left front rulings, the Mamata Banerjee government, which has found over-emphasis to Marxism and Leninism in text books, has set up a committee to review school syllabus.
“We are not trying to rewrite history, but only create among students an objective view of history and lessen the bias towards any particular school of philosophy (Marxism),” a top education department official told DNA on Friday.
Education secretary Bikram Sen said: “There are plans to subject the syllabus to a rigorous and continuous process of evolution process.”
During the Left rule, schools and universities in the state gave special emphasis to Marxism, Leninism and there was no free education in terms of choice for students. For instance, history books of class XI and class XII discuss the Industrial Revolution and refer to Karl Marx and his contributions in that context.
Reacting to the development, veteran Marxist leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said, “This is not desirable and is unnecessary and unfortunate.”
The Trinamool Congress, however, has defended the move, describing it as “an attempt to correct the imbalance”. Trinamool MP Derek O’Brien stressed that the government is not trying to doctor history. “Marx, I believe, should be studied as a historical phenomenon, but not at the expense of Mahatma Gandhi and Mandela,” he said and added that “Bengal is redressing balance, not doctoring history”.
“From Class four to Class twelve every year you are given a dose of Marx, Engels and the Bolshevik revolution,” O’Brien said and claimed that in the new syllabus is expected to bring “a much more balanced view and there is much more pluralistic view.”
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