The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is actively working to retrieve 38 copies of a Class 8 Social Science textbook that has been withdrawn from circulation. According to sources within the Education Ministry, out of 225,000 copies printed, only 38 had been sold, while the remaining 224,962 are still held in inventory. All unsold copies have already been recalled to NCERT’s warehouse, with efforts underway to locate and recover those that were sold.

Withdrawal Triggered by Controversial Content

This initiative follows the NCERT’s decision to halt the distribution of the book after controversy arose regarding specific content in a chapter focused on the judiciary. The textbook, titled “Exploring Society: India and Beyond, Vol II,” was launched on February 24 as part of a revised educational curriculum. NCERT released an official statement acknowledging that “certain inappropriate textual material and errors of judgment” had inadvertently been included in Chapter 4, which discusses “The Role of Judiciary in our Society.”

Supreme Court’s Reaction and Immediate Action

The chapter faced backlash for its references to corruption within the judiciary and highlighted the issue of case backlogs. This prompted a strong response from the Supreme Court, which took exception to the language used in the book. In light of this, the NCERT quickly decided to suspend further distribution of the textbook to address the concerns raised.

Revisions Under National Education Policy

The Class 8 Social Science textbook is part of a larger initiative to overhaul school textbooks under the framework of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework (NCF). The NCERT has been implementing changes gradually, focusing on altering content, structure, and thematic approaches to education.

Future Steps for the Textbook

Sources indicate that a revised version of the controversial chapter is planned to be released following a thorough review process. Once the new text has been vetted and approved, new copies will be printed for distribution.

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