The Civilisational Vision of NEP 2020
India’s education policies have never been merely administrative documents. They reveal what kind of citizens the nation wishes to nurture and what kind of knowledge it chooses to honour. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 marks a significant departure from earlier frameworks because it does not treat education simply as literacy, employability or examination success. Instead, it seeks to restore education to its larger civilisational purpose: rootedness, enquiry, ethical reflection, creativity and confidence.
The education policies of 1968 and 1986 played important roles in expanding access, strengthening national integration, promoting science education, supporting Indian languages and advancing social inclusion. Yet India’s own intellectual traditions often remained on the margins of school education. They appeared occasionally as cultural references or moral lessons, but rarely as serious knowledge systems capable of shaping the study of science, mathematics, social science, the environment, society and human life.
NEP 2020 changes that trajectory. It places Indian Knowledge Systems at the heart of educational thinking, not as mere decoration but as living intellectual resources. The National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 gives this vision curricular form through its emphasis on “rootedness in India”, values, critical thinking, interdisciplinary learning and engagement with contemporary life. The objective is not to push students backwards into nostalgia but to help them move forward with confidence, historical memory and cultural self-respect. The official NCF-SE release identifies “rootedness in India” as one of its major cross-cutting themes. (Press Information Bureau)
Reclaiming Indian Knowledge Systems
That makes the inclusion of Indian Knowledge Systems across subjects particularly significant. Earlier, such knowledge was largely confined to scattered references: a mention of zero, a note on Ayurveda, a paragraph on ancient universities or a brief discussion of heritage. The new approach is more integrated. It encourages teachers and textbook writers to demonstrate how Indian ways of knowing can enrich science, mathematics, social science and civic life.
Nowhere is this more evident than in science. Traditional water-harvesting systems, agricultural practices, ecological knowledge, Ayurveda, astronomy, architecture and metallurgy demonstrate that scientific thinking is rooted in observation, classification, experimentation and accumulated experience. Their inclusion enables students to recognise that the spirit of scientific enquiry was never alien to Indian civilisation. Long before modern Western scientific frameworks became globally dominant, India had developed sophisticated ways of investigating nature, health, space, materials, the environment and human life through disciplined observation and practice.
In the revised Class 8 Science textbook, ancient Indian scholarship is presented as an important part of the scientific tradition. Sushruta is introduced as the ‘Father of Surgery’, alongside other major figures such as Charaka in medicine, Aryabhata in astronomy and Kanada in atomic thought.
Sushruta’s contribution is not presented merely as a historical reference. His work on reconstructive surgery, particularly rhinoplasty, cataract procedures and the design of specialised surgical instruments, is linked to broader biological and medical concepts that students can readily relate to modern science.
The textbook also refers to the Sushruta Samhita, drawing attention to its early insights into human anatomy, surgical discipline, sterilisation practices and the therapeutic use of alkalis. This helps students appreciate how ancient Indian medical knowledge combined observation, technique and systematic practice.
Mathematics provides another important opportunity for intellectual recovery. In the new NCERT mathematics textbooks, such as Ganita Prakash for Class 6, Vedic Mathematics does not appear as a separate chapter. Instead, Indian mathematical traditions are introduced through contextual references to concepts such as decimal notation, fractions, negative numbers and the work of thinkers such as Brahmagupta.
This approach is pragmatic. While some scholars argue that what is popularly known as Vedic Mathematics is based largely on twentieth-century formulations rather than directly on Vedic texts, its pedagogical value should not be dismissed. Used judiciously, these methods can reduce mathematical anxiety, improve mental calculation, sharpen pattern recognition and help students develop greater confidence with numbers. The emphasis, however, should remain clear: these techniques are supplementary tools rather than substitutes for rigorous mathematical reasoning.
The most visible and contested changes, however, lie in Social Science. The new textbooks move away from treating the subject as a burden of facts, dates and definitions. Instead, they encourage students to think about society, governance, culture, the economy, the environment, diversity and citizenship. This is a welcome shift. History should not be abandoned after school as though it were a dispensable subject. A serious nation must ensure that students continue to engage with history, ideally until graduation, irrespective of their chosen discipline. Developed countries such as England and Japan continue to attach structured importance to history and civic learning in school education. England’s national curriculum requires students to study British, local and world history at Key Stage 3, while Japan introduced a compulsory high-school course integrating Japanese and world history in 2022. (The Quint)
For India, the need is even greater. Students must understand not only political events but also civilisational continuity, cultural achievements, philosophical traditions, invasions, demographic changes, institutional destruction, colonial disruption and the resilience with which Indian society has renewed itself. A mature social science curriculum should neither romanticise the past nor conceal its wounds. Instead, it should help students examine history with evidence, balance and courage.
Beyond the ‘Deletion’ Debate
It is against this backdrop that the current textbook controversy should be understood. NCERT’s rationalisation of Social Science textbooks has attracted criticism for the deletion, shortening, or restructuring of chapters relating to the Preamble, secularism, democratic rights, popular movements, the judiciary, medieval history, agriculture, and other themes. Critics have described these changes as omissions. Yet the counter-argument deserves equal attention. The new curriculum appears to follow a process of redistribution, sequencing and reframing rather than simple erasure.
For instance, the revised Class 9 Social Science textbook has been criticised for omitting the Preamble and references to “secular” and “secularism” from the main text. At the same time, reports indicate that the book introduces a dedicated discussion on the Emergency, gives greater attention to electoral institutions and reframes democratic functioning within an integrated social science curriculum. NCERT has also denied allegations that the Preamble has been removed altogether. (India Today) The debate, therefore, should not be reduced to a single word or page. The real question is whether constitutional values are being taught with greater continuity, clarity and age-appropriate sequencing across different classes.
The controversy surrounding the judiciary provides another example. The earlier Class 8 chapter reportedly discussed judicial corruption and case backlogs in a manner that invited scrutiny from the Supreme Court. The revised version instead focuses on justice, constitutional remedies, courts, tribunals and dispute resolution. (The Times of India) Critics may regard this as dilution. Others, however, may argue that middle-school students should first understand the structure and purpose of institutions before being introduced to their shortcomings. Democratic education should produce neither blind reverence nor premature cynicism.
The deletion of Class 10 chapters such as “Democracy and Diversity”, “Popular Struggles and Movements” and “Challenges to Democracy” has likewise been questioned. (Collegedunia) Yet the alternative view is that these themes overlap with higher-level Political Science and Sociology and may be taught more effectively at a later stage, when students possess greater conceptual maturity. Rationalisation, in itself, is not a fault. The real test is whether these ideas reappear at the appropriate stage and with sufficient depth.
The sharpest debate concerns medieval history. Critics argue that coverage of the Mughals and the Delhi Sultanate has been reduced. Supporters contend that earlier textbooks devoted disproportionate attention to a handful of imperial dynasties while underrepresenting the Cholas, Ahoms, Marathas, Vijayanagara, Rajputs, Sikhs and several regional traditions. A balanced curriculum should erase neither period. Equally, it should not reduce Indian history to a narrow sequence of Sultanate, Mughal and colonial rule.
The revised treatment of invasions has made this debate even more significant. Recent reports on the Class 7 textbook indicate that the section on Mahmud of Ghazni has been expanded, describing his repeated campaigns in India and his plunder of wealthy temples, including Somnath. (ETEducation.com) Mahmud’s raid on Somnath in 1026 CE remains one of the most widely discussed episodes in medieval Indian history. Several Persian and later accounts state that the temple was desecrated and its wealth carried away. Some accounts also state that fragments of the idol were taken to Ghazni and placed near the entrance to a mosque to be trodden underfoot, although historians continue to debate the precise details and the extent of later embellishments. For school education, the objective is not to inflame historical memory but to avoid sanitising episodes of civilisational trauma.
Similarly, describing Babur as an invader or conqueror should not be regarded as ideological provocation if the description is historically accurate. Babur came from Central Asia, defeated Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat in 1526 and established Mughal rule through military conquest. Stating these facts plainly does not deny the complexity of later Mughal history. It simply begins the historical narrative with honesty.
Towards a More Confident Curriculum
Ultimately, this is the larger purpose of the new textbooks. They seek to widen the frame through which Indian history is understood. Students are encouraged to view India not only through imperial courts and colonial categories but also through regional powers, civilisational wounds, knowledge traditions, temple economies, local communities, resistance, renewal and resilience. History should neither conceal wounds nor remain imprisoned by them. It should enable students to understand how a civilisation endured, adapted and survived.
India does not need textbooks that conceal invasion, social injustice, institutional weakness or civilisational loss. Nor does it need textbooks that encourage children to view their own civilisation through a lens of inherited suspicion. The challenge before NEP 2020 and NCF-SE 2023 is to create an honest curriculum without being self-hating, rooted without being narrow, modern without being deracinated and critical without being cynical.
Seen in this light, the inclusion of Indian Knowledge Systems in science, social science and mathematics is not a backwards-looking exercise. It is an act of intellectual recovery. It reminds students that India is not merely a geographical space or a political entity but a knowledge civilisation with a long history of thought, experimentation, debate, creativity, trauma, resilience and renewal.
NEP 2020 and the new textbooks seek to restore that confidence to the classroom. If implemented with care, they can help shape learners who are not only examination-ready but also culturally aware, intellectually curious, historically grounded, ethically alert and prepared to engage with the world without losing sight of their own civilisational inheritance.
