Pre-primary textbooks with photographs of Karnataka leaders draw the ire of many

The portraits of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D.K.Shivakumar and Women and Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar printed on the cover page of textbooks of the newly started pre-primary classes in anganwadis has drawn the ire of many. 

The portraits of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D.K.Shivakumar and Women and Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar printed on the cover page of textbooks of the newly started pre-primary classes in anganwadis has drawn the ire of many. 

Educationists and parents have taken strong objection to printing the photographs of Ministers on textbooks, unlike the usual practice of just having the government emblem. 

Following this, Ms. Hebbalkar said that the photographs of the State leaders may have been printed by mistake, without the knowledge of department officials. “The department will start pre-primary classes in 18,000 more anganwadis in the coming days. This mistake will not happen in the books that will be printed henceforth,” she said. 

Following the State government’s decision to start pre-primary classes in government schools of Kalyana Karnataka, anganwadi workers protested. Following this, the government has now decided to start pre-primary classes in anganwadi centres, and in the first phase has started these classes in 250 centres across Karnataka.

At these centres, the Department of Women and Child Development will supply children with books, bags, and other accessories. Towards this end, the department has got 26 lakh textbooks printed, which sport the photographs of the three leaders on its cover page. 

Development educationist V.P. Niranjanaradhya said this would set a wrong precedent. “Workbooks or primers for students are not political leaflets of the ruling party. The Supreme Court has also ruled against spending taxpayer’s money to build personality cults of political leaders,” he said. 

“Textbooks and the education sector should not be politicised. Textbooks printed by the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL) through the Karnataka Textbooks Society (KTBS) only carry the State emblem. These books need to be withdrawn immediately,” Shivaprasad, a parent, demanded.