Jaipur: The Rajasthan Board of Secondary Education (RBSE) has written to the state govt to review all books that are part of the curriculum and suggest changes well before the start of the next academic session. This action follows days after state education minister Madan Dilawar announced that a supplementary textbook for classes 11-12, ‘Azadi Ke Baad Ka Swarnim Bharat’, will not be taught in schools due to its alleged focus on the Nehru-Gandhi family’s contribution to India’s development. Officials said that books are usually reviewed after a change of govt in the state. However, this time, after the minister announced the scrapping of two books, the Board wrote to the state govt to form a committee of experts to review the books. RBSE Secretary Kailash Sharma said that from classes 9-12, the Board has 71 books for different subjects, along with NCERT books, which serve as additional readings or workbooks and have not been reviewed in a long time. “71 books for different language subjects for classes 9-12 are prepared by RBSE after approval from the state govt. For such books, a committee is set up by the state govt for review or to create a new book. We have requested that these existing books should either be sent to the existing syllabus review committee or a new committee should be formed for the review,” Sharma said.The books prepared by RBSE include those for Hindi, Sindhi, Punjabi, and Sanskrit, which cover both literature and grammar. Officials said that as part of the review, the contents, especially those in the literature section, can be checked.On Friday, the state govt removed Dinesh Kumar Ojha, senior assistant director of RBSE, from his post following a controversy surrounding class 11-12 textbooks titled ‘Azadi Ke Baad Ka Swarnim Bharat’. The issue allegedly relates to not giving enough space to PM Narendra Modi’s achievements. Ojha, who was allegedly responsible for textbook selection and was working on deputation at RBSE, has been placed on awaiting posting order (APO) and asked to report to the education directorate in Bikaner.
