'Nimbuda-Nimbuda 'in Odisha's Class VIII book, questions raised again on New Education Policy
In view of the seriousness of the case, an inquiry was conducted on the instructions of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi. Following the probe report, the government suspended four senior SCERT officials, including three assistant directors, including the former director. Departmental action has also been initiated against six other officials. The inquiry committee has given 14 important recommendations to prevent such negligence in the future. These include master errata register, provision of timely revision to students and creation of a separate quality assurance cell to ensure quality of textbooks.
Bhubaneswar. Odisha's new school textbooks prepared under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 are once again in controversy. Earlier, the government was annoyed over thousands of mistakes, now a new controversy has arisen over the inclusion of lyrics of popular Rajasthani folk song 'Nimbooda-Nimbooda' and Kashmiri folk song 'Rind Posh Maal' in the book 'Kriti' of art education of class VIII.
After the inclusion of these two songs in the "Mo Sangeet Jagat" chapter of the book, people on social media have started raising questions. Instead of introducing Odisha's students to the state's rich Odia folk music and cultural heritage, teaching them songs popularised by Bollywood is incomprehensible, users say.
Outrage on social media
As soon as the matter came to light, social media was flooded with memes and sarcastic comments. Many questioned whether the purpose of schooling now is to promote local culture or to make popular Bollywood songs a part of the curriculum.
The first 1,678 mistakes, now a new controversy
The controversy comes at a time when 1,678 errors found in the new textbooks recently became a topic of discussion across the state. These included serious factual, linguistic and editing errors, following which the government faced criticism.
The action was taken on the instructions of the Chief Minister.
In view of the seriousness of the case, an inquiry was conducted on the instructions of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi. Following the probe report, the government suspended four senior SCERT officials, including three assistant directors, including the former director. Departmental action has also been initiated against six other officials.
The inquiry committee has given 14 important recommendations to prevent such negligence in the future. These include master errata register, provision of timely revision to students and creation of a separate quality assurance cell to ensure quality of textbooks.
The big questions are now being asked
The latest controversy has once again sparked a debate on whether local culture and folk traditions should get priority in the school curriculum or the songs that have become popular across the country. Experts believe that the purpose of education should not only be entertainment, but also to connect students with their cultural roots.
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