Ramayana and Mahabharata should be included in school curriculum, recommends NCERT panel

NEW DELHI: A high panel of the NCERT has recommended inclusion of Indian epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata in the school historic curriculum up to Plus Two. It is recommended that the Preamble of the Constitution be inscribed on the walls of classrooms in local languages and that national heroes like Subhash Chandra Bose be highlighted in the curriculum.

The seven-member committee headed by historian and Malayali CI Isaac made a controversial recommendation to change the name of the country to 'Bharat' instead of 'India' and to emphasize the victories of Indian kings in the textbooks. These suggestions may be approved soon.

The changes are as follows:

The history syllabus has been rearranged into four periods namely classical, medieval, British and modern India. As per the current syllabus, this is classified into ancient, medieval and modern India.

Classical history is replaced by ancient history to highlight the achievements of Hindu kings. At present the victories of the Hindu kings against the Sultans are not taught.

Influential literary works in the fields of Vedas and Ayurveda will also be taught.