State board examinations are considered to be a lot easier than examinations of the Central Board of Secondary Education, which is half the reason for the need for entrance tests that are meant to standardise different board examinations. But the Punjab government and the Punjab School Education Board have now realised how difficult it is to bring the state board syllabus on par with the golden standard in India—the CBSE.
In trying to do so, the government of Amarinder Singh as well as the Punjab School Education Board have landed in a controversy even though the textbooks for class 12 are yet to be published.
The PSEB, which redrafted the syllabus to bring it on par with the syllabus of the National Council of Educational Research and Training, introduced what it considered the more relevant lessons—pre-modern period and the modern period—comprising trade, industry, crafts, cities, chiefs, monarchs and merchants—in the context of Punjab as well as the rest of India. The politics and economics of early medieval India, the Revolt of 1857, the rise of nationalism in India and the struggle for independence are the other lessons that form part of the syllabus in the new textbooks.
Giving the local flavour to history are chapters on the emergence of a Sikh state and Punjab under the British, both having mentions of Sikh history. But apparently, that is not enough of Sikh history, for many.
While there is no problem with the chapters introduced, a section of the Sikhs, led by the Shiromani Akali Dal president and former deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal, are furious over what has been dropped: lessons on Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, the Sikh struggle against Mughals and Afghans, the origin and growth of Sikh Misls and Maharaja Ranjit Singh's rule and conquests.
“This deprives our youth of learning about their proud past, their glorious ancestors and their history,” says Jagdev Singh, who taught history in government schools in Bhatinda district till he retired a few years ago. He points out that it has nothing with the Akalis or the Congress being in power, for he understands the need to trim the syllabus and remove flab. “But these (omitted) lessons are not flab,” he points out.
Amarinder sees red in the criticism and protests. He feels these have the potential to disturb the peace and harmony of Punjab. He charged the critics of the new syllabus with attempting to mislead the public, and pointed out that it was during the Akali regime in January 2014 that it was decided to realign the syllabus with that of the NCERT.
“The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandak Committee was party to all the discussions on the issue since our government came to office in March 2017,” Amarinder said, adding that the revised syllabus was uploaded on the PSEB's website way back in March 2014. According to him, the SGPC had reservations, and his government had ensured they had a nominee in all meetings that decided on the syllabus.
“The entire history of the Sikh gurus has been retained in the realigned syllabus. The new lessons are more cohesive and makes for easier learning,” Amarinder argued, adding that he personally ensured that the Battle of Saragarhi and the noted Sikh general Sham Singh Attariwala were also part of the lessons. These lessons are being taught at the secondary and senior secondary level, he said.
Incidentally, the chief minister is the author of a book titled Saragarhi And the Defence of the Samana Forts.