Abstract:
School textbooks are assumed correct and unbiased in their narrative, and most often
prescribed to the young minds without questioning. However, due to the increasing
interference of political parties in the government funded public education sector, the school
textbooks must be critically analyzed before being considered as rightful sources of
knowledge. Hence, this study posed two questions: i) how politics influences the narrative of
the textbooks in Bangladesh, and ii) how these books produce ‘ignorance’ by excluding
crucial facts regarding history and rights of the citizens. To seek the answers, the research
evaluated NCTB (National Curriculum and Textbook Board) authorized books in
Bangladesh, Social Science (Choudhury et al.) and Bangladesh and Global Studies (Patwari
et al.), followed in class 6 and 7 from 1996-2017, and education policies adapted during the
period. Furthermore, in two subsequent chapters, it is observed, how in Bangladesh’s context
politically engineered ‘ignorance’ helps the powerful political parties to keep the citizens
ignorant about their religious history and current human rights, and allows to push forward a
Muslim majoritarian narrative for winning maximum number of votes. The findings of this
research, in two subsequent chapters, calls for teachers and general people alike to recognize
‘ignorance’ as an active tool of political power embedded in the school textbooks
Description:
This thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MA in English Language and Literature of East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
