Academics in Karnataka have expressed concern over some of the proposals submitted by the state government to the Center in the form of status papers for the curriculum framework under the National Education Policy (NEP) and inputs to be included in the state curriculum. Each state will have to upload its status sheets on the NCERT website.
Regarding the reference to Newton’s Gravity apple and Pythagoras theorem as “fake news” in one of the position papers, Madan Gopal, chairman of the task force to implement NEP in the state, said: “This is the group’s interpretation. Gravity and Pythagoras have their roots in Vedic mathematics. This is an Indian-centric approach. There is a lot of information on google about it. For example, it is believed that Baudhayana set out the Pythagorean theorem in Buddhist texts. There is a point of view. You may or may not agree to it.”
The state had constituted 26 committees to prepare status papers on school education. These included the knowledge of India among others.
According to sources, heated debates took place in the meetings held to review some status papers. Several problematic points were expressed in the position paper on Knowledge of India, which has been recommended as a compulsory subject. Rejecting the objections, Madan Gopal said, “This paper has been prepared under the chairmanship of a distinguished IIT professor. This has been examined and accepted by the state government.” The committee was chaired by V Ramanathan of IIT (BHU), Varanasi.
Lamenting over the current system of education, the paper attributes it to “policies both at the state and central levels, which, under the guise of secularism, have arranged our influential minds into a field of rootlessness and ignorance of the achievements by our ancestors”.
“In the land of a thousand languages, at least three languages should be taught – the regional language, English and another Indian language, preferably Sanskrit,” the paper read.
The paper pointed out that many Smriti literature “has been obscured or banned because of incomplete and poor understanding of their ethos and content”. It said: “For example, despite the lofty ideals of public and social good in the Manusmriti, it has become controversial to such an extent that its very name demands undue humiliation from a section of our society.”