Bengal school kids will read about Sachin, Mandela

The state school syllabus revamp committee is in talks with the West Bengal education department to include detailed chapters on anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar in state-run schools' curriculum, officials said Wednesday.

West Bengal School Syllabus Revamp Committee chairman Aveek Majumdar said there was an informal discussion between him and Education Minister Bratya Basu on incorporating the luminaries in the syllabus. Majumdar told IANS: "We just had a casual and informal discussion...we have not submitted any formal proposal yet.

The minister has said that they could go forward with the thought in the future." "We can include the chapter either in history or any of the two compulsory language papers, Bengali or English," added Majumdar. Confirming the discussion, Basu said the department will take a decision once a formal proposal was submitted to it.

Mandela, South Africa's first non-white president, died Dec 5 at the age of 95, in Johannesburg, South Africa. Tendulkar, retired Nov 16 after playing his 200th Test match in Mumbai. At present, Tendulkar's name features in Class V English textbooks while Mandela only finds mention as an anti-apartheid leader in the Classes X and XI history syllabi.

Earlier, the committee introduced former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly as part of a project work in Bengali for Classes XI and XII.