All CBSE schools to share info on books they use

NEW DELHI: CBSE-affiliated private schools will have to put up information about books prescribed by them on their websites to enhance transparency, allowing parents and others to flag objectionable content, if found. 

To ensure schools take responsibility of the content being taught, the board is mulling asking the school principal and the manager to certify that they have read the content of the books prescribed.

They will be held responsible if objectionable content is found, sources in the ministry said. 

The move comes after a Class 4 Environmental Studies book, ‘Our Green World’, of a Delhi school described the suffocation of a cat as an example to explain the importance of breathing. 

The book was withdrawn after the publisher and the school came under fire and the publisher apologised. “We want to ensure that schools take responsibility of the content being taught in their schools. There has to be greater transparency. So if they upload the details of the books on their website, parents and anyone else will be able to check in case they find anything objectionable,” said a CBSE official. 

The HRD ministry is working on a plan to have more NCERT books in circulation so that schools will not have to rely on private publishers who sell expensive books, officials said. 

At the same time, there is no mandatory requirement to use books by NCERT, officials said. 

Under the affiliation bye laws, the school and publishers are liable for any action and have to take responsibility of the content prescribed by them. 

Source | Hindustan Times | 23 February 2017

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Pralhad Jadhav

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