Mangaluru: The Board of Studies (BoS) in Kannada at Mangalore University is skirting with controversy in the curriculum it prescribes for undergraduates. If H Nagaveni’s ‘Gandhi Bandha’ first cast the spotlight on BoS, Baragur Ramachandrappa’s article ‘Yuddha Ondu Udyama’ stirred the hornet’s nest last year. Strike three was Mattaru Vittal Hegde’s ‘Maguvina Tandhe’ for its sexual innuendos and reference to extra-marital relationships.While the university blames this on the present-day tendency to read too much in between the lines, thanks to ideological leanings of teachers/students opposing the text prescribed, a section of academicians who have been part of syllabus formation in the past, attribute this to lack of proper checks and balances, the end result of which has seen the university withdraw or revise the prescribed text to give the raging controversy a quiet natural burial.An academician privy to the process, who did not wish to be named, told TOI that while literary works should be read purely as such, not all are suitable for classroom teaching. “The same text prescribed for postgraduate students does not raise eyebrows for students at this level, where the numbers are also less, and the students have the required maturity to understand the writer’s mind,” the academician said, adding this may not be the case at the undergraduate level, where number of students is more.“Prasaranga, the university’s publication wing that brings out textbooks for various classes, that once used to vet textbooks, is presently involved in technical work. In such a scenario, onus rests on the BoS and editorial board to do a careful check of what it picks as textbook material from a wide genre of literary works at its disposal,” the academician said, while admitting that reasons for protests against textbooks are not hard to fathom.Nagappa Gowda, special officer, Mangalore University, told TOI that the problem arises due to differing viewpoints on perceiving works of literature. The syllabus is revised once every three years, and if each revision stokes controversy due to division of opinion, the editorial board that works for it under the BoS, will feel hard done by. “It is not as if the BoS or the board is writing these pieces on their own for academic purposes,” he said.“Even U R Ananthamurthy’s ‘Samskara’ or Nagaveni’s ‘Gandhi Bandha’ evoked strong passions in the past. Universities, including Mangalore University, normally in such cases, withdraw the same or revise part or whole of the text to assuage ruffled feelings,” Nagappa Gowda said, adding such an act should not been seen as admission of guilt on part of the university. “Besides, teachers who teach the lesson too are part of the syllabus formation,” he added.

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