NEP authorises states to bring out school textbooks, says V Sivankutty

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty said on Sunday that the National Educational Policy (NEP) clearly states that the authority to bring out school textbooks rests with the states and so there is no need for any concern in this regard.

Amidst a raging row over the state's recent signing of the PM SHRI scheme, the minister continued to justify the General Education Department's move and said many things in NEP have already been implemented by Kerala.

"In the signed MoU, it is clearly stated that we can withdraw from the agreement any moment. It should be done after deliberations by the two parties and arriving at a consensus. If we cannot arrive at a consensus, we have the freedom to approach the court as well," he told reporters here.

Stating that Kerala would not backtrack from the long-drawn educational policy of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) at any cost, he said BJP leader K Surendran's statement that school textbooks in the state would teach about RSS leaders would remain as his dream.

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"The authority to bring out school textbooks rests with the states and so there is no need for any concern in this regard," he said. Sivankutty also said that it was a matter that affects 47 lakh students in the state and the only priority of the government was not to lose the central funds for students belonging to poor and marginalised communities.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, V D Satheesan, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on October 10.

"The PM SHRI agreement was signed on October 16. The CM must explain what happened in Delhi on October 10. What kind of deal was made? Who blackmailed the Chief Minister?" he told reporters in Kochi.

When the CPI opposed it during the Cabinet meeting on October 22, both the CM and the Education Minister remained silent, he claimed. They even deceived their fellow ministers, the LoP alleged.