TISS to organise meet on guidelines for textbooks

In parallel with the textbook guidelines initiative, TISS plans to establish the Viksit Bharat Centre to focus on policy-related research and act as a bridge between academic work and government decision-making. The centre will have three full-time fellows coordinating research and compiling findings for policymakers.

TISS announced a national-level brainstorming session to develop guiding principles for social science textbooks. The event will bring together members from national- and state-level textbook committees (including NCERT associates) and educationists to discuss balance, inclusivity, and multi-perspective representation. The aim is to produce guiding principles for future textbook writing rather than drafting textbooks.

The institute’s 85th annual convocation was held, with the Karnataka governor Thaawarchand Gehlot delivering the convocation address. Chancellor D P Singh and other senior TISS officials were present. A total of 1,080 students attended, including 97 doctoral scholars, one MPhil student, and 982 graduates.

The article notes repeated concerns over NCERT textbook content, citing deletions such as portions of Mughal history, references to the 2002 Gujarat riots, the Babri Masjid demolition, the name of M K Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse, and Darwin’s theory of evolution. It also states that two months prior, a Class 8 textbook contained a chapter on judicial corruption that was banned by the Supreme Court.