The Kerala government has made a comprehensive revision of the school curriculum by including the Preamble to the Constitution in every textbook, besides material on gender sensitivity, equal rights, scientific temper and awareness of the Pocso Act that deals with crimes against children.

The importance of sports, understanding pollution, cleanliness and hygiene are among the other factors included in the new curriculum.

In a massive exercise involving over 900 teachers and feedback and opinions from education experts, parents and students, the state education department has revised 173 textbooks in line with the fresh curriculum.

While the new textbooks for Classes I, III, V, VII and IX will be introduced in the upcoming academic year beginning June, the new revised curriculum for Classes II, IV, VI, VIII and X will be rolled out in the 2025-26 academic year.

Each textbook begins with the Preamble in keeping with the state government’s resolve to inculcate the values of the Constitution in students.

State education minister V. Sivankutty told a media conference on Tuesday evening that the State Schools Curriculum Steering Committee has approved the much-awaited revision to the school curriculum. The textbooks will be available in Malayalam, English, Kannada and Tamil for students following the respective medium of instruction.

“School education needs to support our state’s endeavour to realise the goals based on the foundation of democracy and secularism,” the minister said, citing the importance of curricular inputs in building the next generations of children based on democratic and secular values.

While the last comprehensive revision of the school curriculum was undertaken in 2007, a mini revision was done in 2013.

“We have always academically resisted all undemocratic decisions taken on academic and non-academic issues at the national level. And that will continue,” Sivankutty said.

He said it was the first time that all textbooks would begin with the Preamble to the Constitution.

The introduction of classes to generate awareness about the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act was based on a Kerala High Court suggestion.

Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas had in June 2022 called for generating awareness about the Pocso Act among school students while adjudicating a case involving minors. The court had expressed serious concern at the rise in sexual abuse cases committed by teens.

Sivankutty said handbooks would be made available for parents and guardians to create awareness about the right approach towards school education and how to create a good atmosphere to help in the child’s mental, physical and emotional growth.