The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has notified a 35-member committee to develop Syllabi and Teaching-Learning Material of History, Geography, Political Science, Sociology and Psychology for classes 6 to 12.

The Curricular Area Group (CAG): Social Science (including History, Geography, Political Science, Sociology and Psychology), which is chaired by Michel Danino, a visiting professor at IIT-Gandhinagar, has been formed in continuation of another 19-member National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTC) that was notified in July to finalize the curriculum, textbooks and learning material for these classes, NCERT said in a notification.

NSTC was expected to further constitute at least 11 CAGs in different subject domains. So far, it has constituted CAGs for innovative pedagogy and teaching learning material, IKS and social sciences.

Also Read:Panel set up for Indian Knowledge System’s integration in books

“This Group will also coordinate with the Preparatory Stage CAG, as well as with other CAGs as required, to ensure continuity with Grades 3-5, interdisciplinarity among subjects, and the integration of cross-cutting themes in Social Science,” the NCERT notification stated.

“Given the need for vertical and horizontal linkages and integration across disciplines in Social Sciences, both the CAGs- Social Science and Economics will ensure this integration by sharing and discussing drafts of material prepared with each other,” it added.

The other members of the committee included Sanjeev Sanyal, member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, Banabina Brahma, Associate Professor, Department of History, Kokrajhar Government College, Assam, MD Srinivas, Chairman of Centre for Policy Studies in Chennai, Mazhar Asif, Centre of Persian and Central Asian Studies, JNU, Heeraman Tiwari, Professor and Chairperson, Centre for Historical Studies, School of Social Sciences, JNU, Javaid Iqbal Bhat, Assistant Professor, Post Graduate Department of English, University of Kashmir, and Commodore Dr.Odakkal Johnson (Retd.), Former Director, Maritime History Society, among others.

“The timeline for submitting Handbooks for Teachers to NSTC and NCERT is 25 February 2024,” the notification added.

NCERT has already released the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for school education, based on which the NSTC is now working on finalising the textbook content.

NCERT is revising the school curriculum in line with the national education policy (NEP) 2020.