Textbooks for primary education serve as a crucial medium in shaping children’s thinking, self-identity, and social behavior, making it essential to engage in serious debates regarding their content. According to educationists, the gender, ethnic, and occupational portrayals in textbooks significantly influence children’s understanding and perceptions of society. Child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr. Utkarsh Karki emphasizes the need for a critical review of examples included in textbooks to foster citizens who respect diversity and equality. June 10, Kathmandu.
Children begin learning alphabets with examples like ‘A’ for pomegranate, ‘Aa’ for mother, and ‘Ka’ for turtle. For them, the alphabet is the first step to acquiring language skills. The words, images, and examples accompanying letters do not merely teach language but also lay the foundation for understanding society. For instance, if a child learns the example for the letter ‘क्ष’ (kṣa) as ‘क्षेत्रीय’ (regional), while another learns ‘ज्ञानी’ (wise) for ‘ज्ञ’ (jñā), these seemingly simple educational examples carry subtle messages about society, identity, power, and respect from the lens of child psychology and pedagogy.
This is why primary level textbooks are now viewed not just as reading materials but vital agents shaping children’s thinking, self-perception, social behavior, and future civic consciousness. In most schools across Nepal, textbooks remain the central focus of learning. From the subjects teachers teach to the exercises and exams students complete, everything revolves around the textbooks. This centrality means a single textbook potentially exerts a uniform influence on the minds of millions of children.
