Even in this digital age, books are still a great source of knowledge for children. But these books need to be constantly updated to stay relevant. Which is why Balbharati, the Maharashtra state curriculum board, has taken a step forward and revised illustrations in school textbooks to show women in professional roles and men helping with household chores to promote gender equality.
According to Hindustan Times, the Uttar Pradesh government is developing special textbooks of Classes 1-5 for children with intellectual and learning disabilities (down syndrome, attention deficit disorder (ADD), dyslexia, autism, etc.)
Ajai Kumar Singh, Joint Director of State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) revealed that Prayagraj-based English Language Teaching Institute (ELTI) has tailor-made English books, State Institute of Education (SIE) has prepared Mathematics books and Rajya Hindi Sansthan-Varanasi was tasked with developing Hindi books. The subjects that will be tackled after this are Environmental Studies and Sanskrit.
Skand Shukla, Principal of ELTI-Prayagraj was quoted saying, “We are busy designing the books with the help of language experts and those active in the field of dealing with kids of special needs and learning disabilities. Based on the feedback from experts, the presentation of the content will be different in these books besides even the paper material used and the thickness of pages will be different so as to help these kids study easily.”
The UP Divyang department has forwarded the course curriculum to the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) for approval. After their green signal, it will be possible for kids with intellectual and learning disabilities to enrol in government-run primary schools.
The special textbooks will also be made available to non-governmental institutions. Isn’t that wonderful?