A children’s poem in Class 1 Hindi textbooks published by the NCERT has been the subject of criticism on social media.
The poem ‘Aam ki tokri’ uses the word ‘chhokri’ (a non-derogatory slang term for girl) to talk about a six-year-old girl carrying a basket of mangoes over her head, apparently to sell them. The theme has also been criticised for ‘promoting child labour’.
It was first shared on Thursday by Awanish Sharan, an IAS officer, who works in the state’s technical education department. Sharing a screenshot of the poem from the textbook, he called the poem low quality literature, questioned the credibility of the poet, and asked authorities to remove it from the syllabus.
Other Twitter users were quick to pick up on the tweet and started questioning the poem and the NCERT for including it in the syllabus. “This is promoting child labour,” said one user.
Another user expressed shock that children are being taught such poems in schools.
The poem ‘Aam ki tokri’ has been written by an Uttarakhand-based poet Ramkrishna Sharma Khadder, who pens children’s literature, and it has been part of the NCERT textbook Rimjhim since 2006.
Underneath the poem, on the same page, the publishers have listed additional exercises for the students, asking teachers to talk to them about child labour. “Ask children whether they know any such kids who sell things in the market and if they go to school? If they do not go to school, then how can the children help them get admission in schools?” the book recommends.
It also clearly states: “The girl in the picture is acting like she’s selling mangoes. Ask children to mimic eating different things like mangoes, lemons, bananas, sugarcane, peanuts, apples and medicine tablets in the class.”
Time taken to read the poem is 8 mins and 33 sec.
