It is no longer A for apple and B for ball. In text books being used for nursery class children studying under UP Board and CBSE, “B” is for bomb and “CH” is for Chaku.
This language of violence is being taught to children in a book on Hindi language alphabets, titled ‘Aalok Shabd’. The book is prescribed in quite a few schools in the state.
While in another moral education book meant for Class 8, titled New Way Bloom, the Indian tricolor is shown in an inverted position in five places with green on top and saffron at the bottom. Published by Gurukul Publications, New Delhi, as part of the life skills syllabus, it was intended to teach young kids patriotism but seems to have turned things upside down.
The books have left parents fretting and education authorities scurrying for cover. Many parents raised protests over contents of these books with school authorities and the publishers have at last decided to withdraw the books from the market.
Rav Authar Dixit, president of the Parents-Student Welfare Association of Gurukul Academy in Uttar Pradesh, said that the national education board was investigating how such a book was cleared for private nursery schools.
Dixit said “It is the responsibility of the education board to provide clean books to the students,” as reported by the Associated Press.
Javed Alam, a board official, held the book publisher responsible for the lapse. Alam said that the Federal Board of Secondary Education issues broad guidelines to state and private schools relating to books, but leaves the content to publishers. It steps in, in case of complaints.
Ananya Tiwari, a child psychologist said “Children have an impressionable mind. If students are taught about bombs and knives at this stage this would develop a negative mindset for them,” as reported by the Associated Press.
Shruti Ahuja, a parent, said to the DNA that this was unacceptable. She asked “How can one teach such words to kids of that age? Or for that matter of any age?”
Aarty Mishra Awasthy, a teacher by profession and a mother of two, was also fuming.”I’m amazed at how such words and books get into the syllabi,” she said, hinting that these books “slip through” the system after publishers tempt school managements with commissions.
Alam said strict action would be taken against the publishers of the 32-page book. He added that “This sort of negative use of words cannot be tolerated.”
