Nagpur News.
Are the textbooks prescribed by Central Board of Secondary Education more foreign oriented rather than going into the demography of our country? If you browse through the pages of these CBSE text books, you might end up realizing this fact as you come across major portion of it is covered by cultures, histories or geographies of foreign land. Even more is informed about the atmosphere, crops and vegetation rather than throwing light on its Indian prospects.
Expresses an intellectual writer, “The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), it appears, is still under the influence of Colonial Rule (British Raj). The CBSE textbooks have been full of foreign histories, foreign writers, and foreign geographies. Foreign ethos is given more importance in CBSE textbooks than Indian glory. The net outcome of this foreign fad is utter confusion among students in understanding importance of India.”
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24 May 2025
However when Nagpur Today quizzed the Principal of Bhartiya Vidya Mandir, a CBSE run school in Civil Lines, Anju Bhutani, she politely refused to comment on this issue. “As per the CBSE rules, I am not suppose to express my views on anything related to CBSE. So in this case you may please excuse,” she quipped.
The Headmaster of Modern School, NEERI, Udit Thosar however said, “More importance being given to foreigners is resulting in the students not understanding the India properly. The Indian languages, history, geography, novelists in textbooks should equally be given credence along with foreign aspects.”
Writers constitute only 20% Indians
Surprisingly, English course of CBSE contains only 20 percent Indian researchers and writers. Till Class VIII, Indian novelists are included in the course. But from Class IX to Class XII, whopping 80 percent books are those penned by foreign writers. The CBSE incorporated novels in English course 5 years ago in order to make the study interesting and cherishing. The history and geography textbooks have also given more importance to topics related to foreign countries.
Students distancing from Indian authors
Experts claim that the CBSE textbooks contain more write ups by English writers as compared to their Indian counterparts. This deters the students to grasp the works of Indian writers in a better way. “The CBSE should have included more books from Indian writers while accommodating few English writers in the course so that students could hone their skills in national spirit”, viewed an expert. “But the situation is contradictory that made the students distancing themselves from Indian authors. It is equally important and exciting to learn about foreign histories and geographies but not at the cost Indian historical events and geographical milestones. The students could find it difficult to learn about Indian states, their culture, traditional attires, geography and other crucial aspects,” he added.
Penned in foreign ink
– Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K Jerome.
– Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
– Diary Of A Young Girl by N. Frank
– The Story Of My Life by Helen Keller
– The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde
– Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington
– Silas Marner by George Eliot
– The Invisible Man by H G Wells
Have your say with Nagpur Today
Do you feel CBSE textbooks are more focused on foreign information and giving extra importance to foreign authors rather than covering more information on India and valuing Indian writers? Post your comments here.
