NCERT Must Build Competence, Knowledge for Nation-Building: Dharmendra Pradhan

On the 65th Foundation Day of NCERT, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan emphasized the council’s crucial role in shaping an empowered and knowledgeable society. He called upon NCERT to adopt global best practices while remaining rooted in India’s cultural and linguistic strengths.

“NCERT’s responsibility is to make our people competent and raise knowledge levels. You are the true nation-builders,” Pradhan said, addressing the gathering. He stressed the need for children to gain proficiency in English while also achieving conceptual clarity through their mother tongues.

Reflecting on past curriculum reforms, Pradhan referred to the National Curriculum Frameworks (NCF) of 2000 and 2005, noting that changes introduced earlier created confusion. He asserted that NCERT is now setting the framework in the right direction, free from what he termed a “slave mentality” that deprived the nation of self-reliance and pride. He further praised new NCERT modules, such as those on Operation Sindoor and Partition Horrors Remembrance Day.

Former ISRO Chairman S. Somanath, also present at the event, credited NCERT textbooks for shaping his early academic foundation but noted their shortcomings. “Those books built my career, yet they missed highlighting India’s scientific heritage and achievements. I had to relearn many things later. Today, I see a transformation, with more focus on our own legacy,” he said.

Somanath also stressed the importance of promoting learning in Indian languages, pointing out that reliance on foreign textbooks during higher education limited students’ connection with indigenous knowledge systems. “Rooting education in our own language is essential,” he remarked.

Source: Indian Express