School textbooks revision will be done this year itself: Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Primary and Secondary Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa on Thursday said revision of school textbooks will be done this year itself in the interest of the students.
He said the matter will be soon placed before the Cabinet to seek its consent.
The Congress in its poll manifesto had promised to undo the changes made to school textbooks when the BJP was in power, and had also promised to scrap National Education Policy (NEP).
"The Chief Minister is personally interested in this, it was also clearly mentioned in our manifesto -- of which I was the vice president -- that we will revise the textbook in the interest of the students. Same thing will stand. As we are implementing the guarantees, in the same way in my department we will fulfill what he had said," Bangarappa said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "There are reports in the media that we may not revise this year as the textbooks have already reached the students. No we will do it this year itself by introducing whatever necessary as a supplementary. There is such a system and it has been done several times in the past. We have already begun the work in this regard."
It is also being ensured that there is no burden on the students because of this, he said adding that as "It is still the initial days of the academic year, and as students wouldn't have entered the textbook curriculum yet, this is the time we have to do whatever we have to, of course those chapters (to be omitted) will be there in the textbooks, but teachers will be directed what to teach and what not to."
Noting that based on the experts advice what is necessary for the students will be kept and the unnecessary would be omitted, the Minister without revealing much said, as we are talking, the discussions and meetings are going on in this regard.
"After all these processes are completed, with the guidance of the Chief Minister it will be placed before the Cabinet and once it is passed there, it will be sent to students, keeping their interest in mind," he said.
Bangarappa indicated that the proposal on the textbook revision will be placed before the Cabinet probably when it meets next.
He however did not wish to go into details, when asked about reports stating that plans are on to remove some lessons from textbooks introduced by the previous BJP government, including one on RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar.
There was a textbook controversy during the previous BJP regime, with demands by opposition Congress and some writers for sacking the then textbook review committee chief Rohith Chakratirtha for allegedly "saffronising" school textbooks by including the speech of RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar as a chapter, and omitting chapters on key figures like freedom fighters, social reformers, and the writings of noted literary figures.
There were also allegations of erroneous content on 12th century social reformer Basavanna and certain factual errors in the textbooks, including accusations of disrespecting Raashtra Kavi' (national poet) Kuvempu and distortion of the state anthem penned by him. Initially the allegations were refuted but subsequently rectifications were made in some cases.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
