Developing Textbooks in India: Some Experiences of Introducing the ESD Perspective

Abstract

In the more than six decades since India became independent, there have been a number of initiatives at the policy level, as well as through the formal and non-formal institutions towards achieving the vision of education for sustainability. The chapter traces the chronology of the developments in the area of educational policy at the national level, with special reference to the quality and transformative role of education and its translation into national curriculum frameworks, syllabi and textbooks. It tracks parallel international developments in the theory and practice of quality education and its close linkages with Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). The discussion illustrates how India’s National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2005 demonstrates the process of infusing a ‘Sustainability Perspective’, into the formal school system in the context of developmental and educational requirements of the country. It shares the process of developing Environmental Studies (EVS) textbooks for classes III, IV, V and how this has provided the opportunity to infuse the intent and essence of both the NCF 2005 and ESD.