Foreword
The National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005, recommends that
children’s life at school must be linked to their life outside the school. This
principle marks a departure from the legacy of bookish learning which
continues to shape our system and causes a gap between the school, home
and community. The syllabi and textbooks developed on the basis of NCF
signify an attempt to implement this basic idea. They also attempt to
discourage rote learning and the maintenance of sharp boundaries between
different subject areas. We hope these measures will take us significantly
further in the direction of a child-centred system of education outlined in
the National Policy on Education (1986).
The success of this effort depends on the steps that school principals
and teachers will take to encourage children to reflect on their own learning
and to pursue imaginative activities and questions. We must recognise that,
given space, time and freedom, children generate new knowledge by
engaging with the information passed on to them by adults. Treating the
prescribed textbook as the sole basis of examination is one of the key reasons
why other resources and sites of learning are ignored. Inculcating creativity
and initiative is possible if we perceive and treat children as participants
in learning, not as receivers of a fixed body of knowledge.
These aims imply considerable change in school routines and mode of
functioning. Flexibility in the daily time-table is as necessary as rigour in
implementing the annual calendar so that the required number of teaching
days are actually devoted to teaching. The methods used for teaching and
evaluation will also determine how effective this textbook proves for making
children’s life at school a happy experience, rather than a source of stress
or boredom. Syllabus designers have tried to address the problem of
curricular burden by restructuring and reorienting knowledge at different
stages with greater consideration for child psychology and the time available
for teaching. The textbook attempts to enhance this endeavour by giving
higher priority and space to opportunities for contemplation and wondering,
discussion in small groups, and activities requiring hands-on experience.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)
appreciates the hard work done by the textbook development committee
responsible for this book. We wish to thank the Chairperson of the advisory
committee for textbooks in Social Sciences, at the higher secondary level,
Professor Hari Vasudevan and the Chief Advisor for this book, Professor
M.H. Qureshi for guiding the work of this committee. Several teachers
contributed to the development of this textbook; we are grateful to their
principals for making this possible. We are indebted to the institutions and
organisations which have generously permitted us to draw upon their
resources, material and personnel. We are especially grateful to the members
of the National Monitoring Committee, appointed by the Department of
Secondary and Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development
under the Chairpersonship of Professor Mrinal Miri and Professor G.P.
Deshpande, for their valuable time and contribution. As an organisation
committed to systemic reform and continuous improvement in the quality
of its products, NCERT welcomes comments and suggestions which will
enable us to undertake further revision and refinement.
Director
New Delhi National Council of Educational
20 November 2006 Research and Training
Reprint 2024-25
