NCERT drops Preamble from Classes 3, 6 books

Tribune News Service

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New Delhi, August 5

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has dropped the Preamble to the Constitution from several Classes III and VI textbooks.

Earlier, the Preamble was published in the first few pages of the books of both grades. While Preamble has been omitted from all Class III textbooks, for Class VI, it has been published only in the science book ‘Curiosity’, and the Hindi book ‘Malhar’.

Assault to destroy Constitution

The Preamble to the Constitution has been dropped from several Class III and VI textbooks issued by the NCERT this year. The BJP govt has launched a full-scale assault to destroy India’s Constitution. Dr Shama Mohammad, Congress

This year, the NCERT has published just one book on environmental studies in place of three for Class VI. The social science textbook of Class VI does not have the Preamble, however, it does mention fundamental rights and fundamental duties.

While the new English textbook for Class VI, ‘Poorvi’, has the national anthem and the Sanskrit textbook, ‘Deepakam’, has both the national anthem and the national song, but the Preamble is absent in both.

The NCERT has not officially released any statement on the dropping of Preamble from the books. The move has invited sharp reactions from Congress. Congress spokesperson Dr Shama Mohammad wrote on X: “The Preamble to the Constitution has been dropped from several Class III and Class VI textbooks issued by the NCERT this year. The BJP govt has launched a full-scale assault to destroy India’s Constitution. All parents must come together and object to this blatant attempt to erase our history!”

The NCERT had earlier removed all mentions of Babri Masjid demolition, replacing it as the “three-domed structure [that] was built at the site of Shri Ram’s birthplace” in the Class 12 political science book.

Meanwhile, Professor Ranjana Arora, Head of the Department of Curriculum Studies and Development at NCERT, said the allegations regarding the removal of the Preamble from the NCERT textbooks did not have a sound basis. “For the first time, the NCERT is giving great importance to various facets of the Indian Constitution- Preamble, fundamental duties, fundamental rights and the national anthem. All these are being placed in various textbooks of various stages,” she said.

“The understanding that only the Preamble reflects the Constitution and constitutional values is flawed and narrow. Why should children not acquire constitutional values from fundamental duties, fundamental rights and national anthem along with Preamble? We give equal importance to all of these for the holistic development of children following the vision of NEP-2020,” Ranjana added.