The NCERT has prepared a question bank and study material on the projects undertaken by the Centre under its Viksit Bharat programme and wants schools to use them in their internal assessments, two government officials have said.

However, the National Council of Educational Research and Training did not consult stakeholders such as school boards, students and parents before taking the decision.

School internal assessments carry 20 per cent weightage in the board exams.

Several teachers expressed concern about such a move as Viksit Bharat is a government programme and not part of the syllabus.

“In internal assessments, the schools award marks for various activities such as projects, unit tests, home work and quiz, among others. All these activities are related to the subject taught as part of the syllabus,” said a teacher who did not wish to be identified.

A school principal said internal assessments were usually left to the schools. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has already issued guidelines on the conduct of internal assessments. The NCERT’s question bank has not come to the schools yet.

“It may come as an advisory to schools to follow NCERT’s question bank on Viksit Bharat for internal assessments,” said the principal.

She said the NCERT had not sought any feedback from schools or parents on the question bank.

A parent said the government was trying to push its agenda among children.

“The schools are giving projects to children regularly on government policies. Many of them are relevant but some are propaganda. The schools should be allowed to decide on projects and other activities,” said the parent.

The NCERT has also prepared five modules on Viksit Bharat to enable students to get supplementary reading material. These modules in Hindi have been prepared on themes such as cleanliness, promotion of indigenous products, contribution of physically challenged persons for economic growth, start-ups as a growth engine in Amritkal and the policies of the government.

Last year, the education ministry had asked the NCERT to prepare modules on the government's achievements in recent years in various fields. The NCERT first published a series of modules on the success of the Chandrayaan mission and had to undertake revisions to rectify factual errors in the modules.

An email was sent to NCERT director D.P. Saklani to understand the council's perspective on preparing the question bank without consultation with stakeholders. His response is awaited.