Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru (RJP)

Bengaluru, Nov 17: A group of teachers has decided to submit a memorandum to primary and secondary education minister Kimmane Ratnakar regarding ‘distortion of facts’ in school textbooks by equating mythology with history. 

It is revealed that the group of teachers under the name and banner ‘All India Save Education Committee’ (AISEC) will soon meet the minister to communicate their concerns. 

The group will also demand a discussion with the state textbook committee members.

The teachers’ group had organised a workshop on Sunday in Bengaluru on differentiating mythology from history.

As per the statement from V N Rajashekar of AISEC, the participants had made a list of conceptual errors in the textbooks. The detailed errors will be documented and submitted with the memorandum.

“There were definitely achievements in ancient India. But random claims about several scientific discoveries during the Vedic period have irked the teachers.” said Rajashekar.

“Similarly there are achievements in the ancient period in other societies too. We can be proud of them. However, it is not good to be arrogant and claim that everything was discovered thousands of years ago,” Rajashekar added.

“Epic is a form of literature that deserves due respect. But we have to enjoy it as an epic. We are destroying the beauty of epic by equating it with reality.” Rajashekar opined.

Teachers said they were in a tight spot as they could neither go beyond the syllabus nor teach the text as ‘facts.’ They also said that it was important to distinguish between epic and history. 

“Teaching the distorted facts is against our conscience and on the other hand we are bound by the direction to follow the syllabus.” said Chandra Girish, a biology teacher who participated in the workshop.