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Prof Saklani says children should know ‘where we came from, understanding what we contributed, questioning what we inherited and have the confidence to take that knowledge forward’
The textbooks also bring Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family), into discussions on interconnected societies, alongside Panchamahabhutas and the relationship between human beings and nature. Representational image
Decolonisation, in the classroom, is not simply about changing, editing or adding a few chapters. That is the central argument underpinning the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) push in the new NCERT textbooks to build the foundation of the National Education Policy (NEP), reveals Prof Dinesh Prasad Saklani, Director, NCERT.
“This is where the curricular shift envisaged under the National Education Policy (NEP) becomes significant. Decolonisation is not simply about changing a few chapters or adding more Indian names to textbooks. It is about changing the lens through which a child experiences India, moving from a curriculum in which Indian civilisation is often studied primarily through external or western frameworks to one that brings India’s own intellectual traditions into the mainstream of learning,” said Prof Saklani while speaking exclusively with News18. “Jaano to Maano — know India to understand and value India.”
That “lens” is now visible across the 2026 textbooks. The shift begins with a larger proposition about India itself, that its civilisation was fundamentally a knowledge-based civilisation.
“India’s civilisation was fundamentally a knowledge-based civilisation. Its legacy was not confined to building temples as places of worship, but extended to as learning centres and marvels of architecture, engineering, mathematics and astronomy. The knowledge system was spread across music, sound, medicine and a sophisticated understanding of minerals, water, soil and the earth. These were knowledge systems built on observation, inquiry and scientific thinking,” Prof Saklani explained.
This is the deeper connection with NEP’s emphasis on Indian Knowledge Systems, the director stated. “It means introducing children to Baudhayana’s mathematical traditions, Brahmagupta’s work on numbers, India’s astronomical knowledge, its architectural and engineering achievements, and its understanding of sound, language, nature and the environment. It also means rethinking how textbooks are named, structured and narrated, so that rivers, ancient texts, musical instruments, scientific traditions and centres of learning become part of the child’s natural vocabulary of knowledge,” he added.
The striking part is how that proposition is being translated into the classroom.
From Shunya to Rajdharma
In Class 9 mathematics, Ganita Manjari does not introduce Indian mathematical history as a detachable “heritage” box. It takes students into the history of numbers, place value and zero, invoking Vedanga Jyotisha and Brahmagupta, and even exploring the philosophical idea of shunyata alongside the mathematical concept of shunya.
The textbook opens with the striking line, “Like the crest on the head of a peacock, / Like the gem on the head of a snake, / So is mathematics too at the head of all knowledge.”
The social sciences go further into territory that is certain to generate debate.
The new textbook discusses Varna and Jati in their historical context, rather than using caste as the sole frame for understanding India’s social organisation. It cites Rigveda’s evocative verses.
“Because decolonisation ultimately begins in the classroom. If children do not know the ideas, discoveries and traditions produced by their own civilisation, they cannot develop a complete sense of its place in history. The curricular shift under NEP is therefore also a shift towards intellectual self-confidence which means knowing where we came from, understanding what we contributed, questioning what we inherited, and then having the confidence to take that knowledge forward. That is how knowledge becomes self-respect, and self-respect becomes the foundation of a confident citizen,” elaborated Prof Saklani.
Then comes Rajdharma, through the Mahabharata, Kautilya’s Arthashastra and discussions of the duties of rulers, justice and ethical governance. Kautilya’s formulation is particularly contemporary in its thrust.
The textbooks also bring Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is one family), into discussions on interconnected societies, alongside Panchamahabhutas and the relationship between human beings and nature.
This is precisely the kind of curricular change the NCERT Director connects to NEP’s larger emphasis on Indian Knowledge Systems. But there is an important qualification.
The stated ambition, he says, is not to replace one civilisational lens with another, nor to glorify the past uncritically. It is to ensure that Indian children experience their own intellectual inheritance “as knowledge, not merely as heritage”.
That distinction is crucial because the new textbooks are not simply compiling a list of Indian achievements. They are changing the contexts in which those achievements are integrated, placing mathematics alongside Brahmagupta and Baudhayana, astronomy alongside India’s observational traditions, and political thought alongside Kautilya, Rajdharma, sabha and samiti.
The Director puts the larger objective in distinctly philosophical terms: “If children do not know the ideas, discoveries and traditions produced by their own civilisation, they cannot develop a complete sense of its place in history.”
Decolonising the mind
The most consequential phrase in the director’s argument is perhaps “decolonisation of minds”.
If the old problem was that Indian civilisation was too often understood through external frameworks, the new approach seeks to place India’s own intellectual traditions inside the mainstream narrative of knowledge.
The NCERT Director’s formulation makes it clear. Children should know “where we came from, understanding what we contributed, questioning what we inherited, and then having the confidence to take that knowledge forward”.
Because, in his words, “that is how knowledge becomes self-respect, and self-respect becomes the foundation of a confident citizen”.
And that is perhaps the real story of the 2026 textbooks, not simply more India in NCERT, but an attempt to change what counts as the starting point from which Indian children understand India.
Quick Answers
Ask News18The 2026 textbooks aim to change the starting point from which children understand India, helping them know, understand, and value the country. The integration of the Indian Knowledge System is designed to build a foundation that gives students the confidence to carry this knowledge forward. Rather than just listing achievements, the books place subjects like mathematics, astronomy, and political thought alongside historical Indian figures, traditions, and concepts.
Ask News18About the Author
Madhuparna Das, Associate Editor (policy) at CNN News 18, has been in journalism for nearly 14 years. She has extensively been covering politics, policy, crime and internal security issues. She has co…Read More
September 04, 2026, 07:00 IST
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