The political and social media ruckus that ensued after NCERT decided to delete Darwin's Theory of Evolution, has not deterred the board from going on another deletion spree.
After the removal of Charles Darwin's Evolution Theory last month, now the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has decided to omit the chapter on Periodic Table from the textbooks of Class IX, X. These deletions, which are now permanent, are being done as part of the board's "rationalization" exercise.
Not just Darwin's Theory and Periodic Table, the council has also deleted chapters on Democracy & Diversity, Popular Struggles and Movements, Political Parties, and Challenges to Democracy, from political science textbooks as part of its omission spree.
The significance of what has been deleted
While the council or Ministry of Education is yet to issue an official statement on the move, it is widely believed that the exercise is a part of the overall "syllabus rationalization" process undertaken by it. Alongside, the topics such as life on Earth, human evolution, and heredity will also not be covered under the new syllabus.
Death of democracy?
While all the omissions are being viewed as a political move and have raised strong controversies, some of the council officials on conditions of anonymity have defended the move as an attempt to reduce the load on students, "in view of the Covid-19 Pandemic".
The controversial omissions also include any mention of freedom fighter Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad, Mughal Era, Naxalite Movement, Dalit writers, as also the fact that Jammu & Kashmir had acceded to India on the promise of autonomy.
Netizens see red, question the move
While politics is being attributed to the move, many scientists, educators and academia have strongly condemned the deletion of the chapters. "So we will have to source old textbooks and home school our kids now," questioned an angry user while exploring the options for students ahead.
"Is this a joke or what? After removing chapters that don't suit political agendas, what will they do next? Introduce their narratives and ideologies in the textbooks," reacted a furious netizen, adding she was pulling her children out of CBSE schools.
