Even teachers don't recognise cover-page revolutionaries

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">AHMEDABAD/VADODARA: The class VIII social sciences textbook is becoming a source of major embarrassment for the Gujarat State Textbook Board. It''s not just the book''s content which has become controversial, but the book''s cover — with portraits of revolutionaries — is also becoming an issue for debate.<br /><br />A survey conducted by <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">TOI</span> covering 15 social science teachers of Ahmedabad and Vadodara revealed that not one of them could identify all the 17 revolutionaries on the cover.Most teachers admitted that even they had heard about some of the revolutionaries for the first time and had to look up the text for an explanation.<br /><br />But the teachers need not have felt embarrassed because even board officials could not come up with the correct names outright when TOI quizzed them.<br /><br />The revolutionaries on the cover from left to right are those of Khudiram Bose, Subhashchandra Bose, Veer Savarkar (top row), Madam Cama, Shyamji Krishna Verma, Vasudev Phadke, Jhansi ki rani (second row), Sardarsinh Rana, Bhagat Singh, Shambhudan Phuglo (third row), Ram Prasad Bismil, Asfaque Ullah Khan, Birsa Munda, Chandrashekhar Azad (fourth row), Durga Bhabhi, Rani Chennama and Queen Gidin Leu (bottom row).<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal">All 15 teachers made mistakes identifying 10 revolutionaries — Khudiram Bose, Vasudev Phadke, Sardarsinh Rana, Shambhudan Phuglo, Ram Prasad Bismil, Asfaque Ullah Khan, Birsa Munda,Durga Bhabhi, Rani Chennama and Queen Gidin Leu.<br /><br />St Xavier''s School, Loyolla Hall, history teacher S Santani came out tops and was able to identify all but two faces and said: "The faces are new to us as well. But we do not mind learning about new revolutionaries."<br /><br />A teacher of Firdaus Amrut High School was blunter: "I do not understand the point in having lots of pictures of revolutionaries who are not described in detail inside the book. Instead, emphasis should be on learning about a few important revolutionaries and their role in the freedom struggle which students can remember all their lives."<br /><br />Sheth CN Vidyalaya teacher Harshaben Bhatt felt the pictures should have been captioned to help teachers and students identify revolutionaries easily. "Also, we would have liked to have some more details on the revolutionaries," Bhatt said.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section3"><div class="Normal">"We cannot identify some of the faces as their photographs have never been widely publicised unlike the national leaders," said Sheetal Mishra of Utkarsh School, Vadodara.<br /><br />The choice of freedom fighters remains debatable as some teachers feel national heroes have been ignored while lesser known leaders have been given undue importance. Others say it is time to acknowledge the contribution of unsung heroes.<br /><br />Says Shobha Jacob, a teacher from Gujarat Public School, "I find the secular element missing in the chapters. Why should one omit great leaders like Frontier Gandhi?"<br /><br />"The books should have stressed the role of leaders such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Sardar Patel, Sarojini Naidu or Vinoba Bhave in the struggle. However, I am appreciative of the fact that regional heroes are being highlighted."</div> </div>