Kolkata: Baranagar BJP MLA Sajal Ghosh has indicated that sections on the Singur and Nandigram movements led by Mamata Banerjee may soon be removed from the state board's Class 8 syllabus — one of the first signals of curriculum changes under the new BJP government.
Speaking to reporters at the 'Education Interface' event at Netaji Indoor Stadium on Saturday, Ghosh said: "These things will be dropped from the syllabus. Students also read about Partha Chatterjee, which is terrible. Distortions in history will be changed." He also questioned the portrayal of Mughal emperors in history texts, saying such narratives were written to serve particular agendas.
On students' union elections — suspended in most colleges since 2017, in Presidency University since 2019 and Jadavpur University since 2020 — Ghosh said the UGC-mandated right to elect student unions could not be denied and that he would demand their early restoration. "Our CM Suvendu Adhikari also has a background in student politics. I hope we will see students' union elections this year itself," he said.
Ghosh also called for strengthening government educational institutions and urged private institutions to regularise fees to make education accessible across economic backgrounds. BJP MLAs Purnima Chakraborty and Tarunjyoti Tewari also addressed the event.
Tewari said, "Education is the only way through which we can save Bengal." Chakraborty said: "Our goal is to create an education system for self-reliant and progressive Bengal."
