‘Plassey no more significant’: West Bengal panel chief on dropping ‘Siraj-ud-Daula’, Tagore poem from textbook

West Bengal is preparing a course correction with its school textbooks. Beginning with the 2027-28 academic session, the state will first fix its existing curriculum with a full syllabus overhaul in 2028-29. Among the proposed changes, Rabindranath Tagore’s poem ‘Africa’ will make way for ‘Shivaji Utsav’, and the play ‘Siraj-ud-Daula’ will be replaced by ‘Mebar Patan’.

The review committee is also examining textbook language and learning outcomes, while the state plans to establish its own teacher-training institute. In an interview with Careers360, Debashis Chatterjee, chairman of the committee, explains the rationale behind the changes, the revision process and the proposed teacher-training initiative. Edited excerpts:

Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, that every student needs to study about him and will be there in every text book. Will this change across text books and classes?

Shyama Prasad will be there in the beginning of every book. Students need to read, they need to know about him, that’s all.

What are the gaps and concerns in the existing syllabus that you want to address?

We are not changing anything since we are hard pressed on time. Whatever I am telling you right now is for the academic year 2027-28 – that is the syllabus which will start from January 2, 2027 – and there will be only corrections. The syllabus from the academic year 2028-29 will change in a major way.

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What are the changes?

Our work has mainly focused on those areas where we found that the syllabus did not connect with Bengal or the Bengalis. To put it plainly, it was not acceptable so we changed it. For example, the poem ‘Africa’ by Rabindranath Tagore talks about the exploitation of the African people by the Europeans. We have replaced it with another of his poems ‘Shivaji Utsav’. This poem highlights Shivaji’s vision of an unfragmented India, and his love for the country. Tagore had written about Shivaji as an inspirational hero, someone who could awaken the people of Bengal against British rule.

These changes have been done because we need to become self-reliant, given the problems with the supply chains and the absolute, erratic, lunatic behaviour of the Americans. We need to work for our country. There should be a sense of nationalism and a willingness to make sacrifices. We must think about society and others. This is essential. People should move away from the mindset that having money means they can do anything.

We have also replaced the play ‘Siraj-ud-daula’ with ‘Mebar Patan’ by Dwijendralal Ray.

Talking about the Bengal connect, But Siraj-Ud-Daula was the last Nawab of Bengal.

The Battle of Plassey was fought 200 years ago in 1757. We don't feel it is significant to us anymore. If you look at what is happening across the globe, we feel there is a need to address topics such as patriotism, the responsibility towards one’s own country – not only our country but all the countries – a subject which is very much sought for. Keeping this in mind we have replaced ‘Siraj-Ud-Daula’ with ‘Mebar Patan’.

What was the reason behind deleting words like ‘pani’ from textbooks and making the word 'jal' mandatory for water?

Even when Bengal was not divided, visionaries and reformers such as Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Vivekananda, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, used the word ‘jal’. The term ‘pani’ is an Arabic word, and so is Abbu and Ammu. So, certain words in the language gets going with the flow. But the torch-bearers of Bengal never used such Arabic words.

To come up with the revised syllabus, we have created groups comprising teachers and headmasters from all over the state for every subject and every class. These groups also have mentors, from various universities, who are making the corrections.

Will the books be designed to reduce rote learning and promote critical thinking?

Yes absolutely. There is a learning outcome after every chapter which will make students as well as teachers think. Every chapter will also have a summary for those students who do not have the patience to read it entirely. And it’s the same for each class and each subject.

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How do you decide which historical personalities and events deserve inclusion in the books?

At the core of Indian society are three important principles. The first is unity in diversity. The second is our patience and tolerance. We tolerated the Persians, the Sakas, the Hunas, the Arabs, the Mughals, the British and more, who ruled us but eventually left the country. Yet, by and large, our society, systems, religion, faith, philosophy and understanding remained the same. Third, we are the only people in the world who can say Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — one Earth, one family, one future.

Historical personalities who promoted such ideas will therefore find space in our textbooks. Lord Clive and the Battle of Plassey are not as important today as the stories of how Shivaji and Rana Pratap fought, the Satyagraha movement, and how 42 people from Bengal laid down their lives for the country. The Azad Hind Fauj was born here, and 50% of its members died on the battlefield. These are the issues that are important. We need to highlight our achievements and glory.

We discovered zero and the decimal point, and we are renowned for our contributions to astronomy. We will study European history, Mughal history and everything else, but in brief. We will give greater emphasis to our own history and our victories.

How do you plan to make history as a subject more interesting for the students?

For this, on the right side of the page, we have introduced a column titled ‘At a glance’. This column will have the year of the historical event, the name,who fought against whom and the outcome in short, be it about the Mughal dynasty, the Cholas or the history of the Marathas.

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Will there be teacher's training before the new academic year begins?

The West Bengal government has decided that the state will have its own training institute – for teachers from primary classes till higher secondary. The government is also considering developing a robust structure for SCERT. There will be changes to the syllabus in the coming days, and AI will have a positive influence on education. We need to keep pace with the changing environment. That is why we want to develop a robust teacher training system.

Where will the institute come up and when?

The government is deciding on the area. The officials working for planning and infrastructure have been given the responsibility. We are expecting that to be finalised before Durga Puja. They will submit a report and then a decision will be taken. There will be three to four proposals – one in Durgapur, in Bakura and one in Tarakeshwar. Initially, the training will be for those who are already working and who will be recruited right away.