Chandrayaan-3 success to find place in TN textbooks

CHENNAI: India’s successful soft-landing on the south pole of the Moon, where no nation has landed before, and the reasons for the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) going in for Chandrayaan-3 mission will soon be part of school textbooks in the State.

Presently, only space book series for children, launched by the ISRO, are available for school and college students interested in astronomy and space technology.

Though in its initial stage, a senior School Education Department official, wishing not to be named, told DT Next that his department minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi has evinced interest in including Chandrayaan-3 success in school textbooks. “The last few years, for every ISRO satellite launch, most of the schools, including private institutions, had their notice boards filled with rocket information/drawings from the students,” he said.

Stating that the lunar mission will be in the textbooks from the next academic year, he said initially, the syllabus experts will sit with scientists to discuss what to incorporate.

“A decision to include important and historic events in the country in textbooks, will see its implementation from the middle school level,” said the official adding that elementary school textbooks will have photographs. “Perhaps the topic may be incorporated in Social Studies,” he added.

The official said after deriving the topic of Chandrayaan-3 for the textbooks, the matter will be approved by the ISRO or any other equivalent authority for corrections/changes. “The lunar mission portion will also find a place in questions to be asked during tests and exams,” he said.

He also pointed out that the National Curriculum Framework for School Education, in its new proposal, has also planned to introduce important satellite launches in the CBSE school textbooks. “However, it’s also in the initial stage,” he said.

Welcoming the move, KR Nandakumar, general secretary of TN Nursery, Matriculation and CBSE Schools Association said, “The topic should be detailed and easy for students to comprehend. There should be a separate lesson for the students from Class 7 on India’s Moon mission.”