The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) kicked a hornet’s nest yesterday after reports emerged that it is removing certain chapters from Class 10 textbooks including chapters on democracy and political parties, apart from scientific topics such as Darwin's theory and the periodic table from Class 10 CBSE science textbooks.
It did not go down well, with the NCERT facing severe backlash from scientists and netizens alike. Now the council has issued a statement, listing out reasons behind its decision.
NCERT said that the concepts of periodic table and evolution have not been removed from the school education curriculum, and are available in appropriate details in Class 11 and 12.
“As far as the rationalisation of the content of evolution is concerned, the same has been dealt with in appropriate details in classes 12 as stated above,” stated NCERT.
NCERT said that a “considered opinion” emerged, based on the feedback of various stakeholders, including teachers, that children might not have to study certain concepts at different stages but only at an appropriate stage. “Therefore the same has been rationalised at this stage, more so considering the COVID-19 pandemic situation,” it said.
When it comes to rationalising the periodic table, NCERT said that the discussion about the basic concepts such as elements, symbols, formation of compounds, atoms and molecules have been dealt with in Class 9. In Class 10, chemical reaction, acids, bases and salts, metals and non-metals, carbon and its compounds have been covered, it added.
NCERT said that students who opt for the Science stream in Class 11 and 12 will study the details of the periodic classification of elements or the periodic table. Contents of the period table have been made more “age appropriate”, it added.
Besides, it added, that during the COVID-19 pandemic, NCERT sought to rationalise the contents of the textbooks as learning was managed using alternative modes. It rationalised the contents based on the certain criteria including overlapping of similar content, similar content used in lower or higher class, high difficulty level, content that can be self-learnt or peer-learnt without much intervention from teachers, content that is not relevant in present context or is outdated, learning outcomes already taken care of in this rationalisation exercise.
When the news about the removal of the chapters and topics emerged on Thursday, the science community slammed the NCERT and said if something is not done now, India will be forced into the dark ages.
Also read: After Darwin's theory, periodic table, NCERT drops more chapters; defends move