New Delhi, June 30 (PTI): A committee set up by the Central Advisory Board of Education (Cabe) has suggested rectification of “anomalies”, including alleged communal propaganda and gender and caste bias, in textbooks prescribed by 11 state governments for schools not affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

In a report presented to Union human resources development minister Arjun Singh today, the 10-member committee said history in Saraswati Vidyalayas was being presented in a “distorted” form and steps needed to be taken to correct it.

“In our review of textbooks brought out by 11 states for schools not affiliated to the CBSE, we have come across a lot of anomalies like communal propaganda, gender and caste bias, besides distortion of history,” said Zoya Hassan, co-chairperson of the committee.

The other co-chairperson, Gopal Guru, advocated changes in the curriculum of madrasas, saying it was not in tune with the present age.

Hassan said the report suggested setting up of a national textbook council, which would act as an “interface between the civil society and the government for periodic review of textbooks”.

“In many of the textbooks brought out by state governments, mythology has been presented in the garb of history. Besides these, we could find highly gender-biased representation of girls and casteist remarks,” Hassan said.