Sibal wants children to look beyond text books

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on Saturday harped on children exploring their potential in areas of their choice and said they should not be bogged down by text books.

HRD Minister Kapil Sibal on Saturday harped on children exploring their potential in areas of their choice and said they should not be bogged down by text books.

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Inaugurating the 19th World Book Fair in New Delhi, Sibal also said he wants to establish a liberal arts university in India to help interested students pursue career in this subject.

To a question that abolition of Class-X board exams would affect the quality of education, he said the government wants children to look beyond text books and explore their potential.

The CBSE has introduced Continuous and Comprehensive Assessment, a new system of test that puts emphasis on evaluating extra-curricular activities of students.

"We have not given up the examination system. We want the child to look beyond the class books. In fact, children must go through a continuous and comprehensive process of examination and teachers must be more involved than ever before," he said

Sibal said he has a dream of establishing a world class university which focuses on liberal arts.

"I am saddened that people do not talk about the need for a world class liberal arts institute. They only talk of engineering, medical and management colleges," he said.