NCERT cuts periodic table, democracy from Class 10 books to 'reduce burden'

Following the decision, students will learn about these concepts only if they choose the relevant discipline in Class 11 and 12

NCERT has decided to take away certain topics from books prescribed for Class 10 students including the periodic table, democracy, political parties, and sources of energy, among others, the education body said in a circular. 

NCERT stated in a document on the revised syllabus that these changes have been made in the books in a bid to "rationalise" the curriculum and "reduce the burden" on students. The education body cited difficult levels, overlapping content, and irrelevance of the content in the present context as reasons behind cutting these topics from the curriculum.

NCERT has also dropped topics like Euclid's division lemma from the Class 10 mathematics curriculum. 

Apart from this, the Pythagoras theorem has also been deleted from the chapter on coordinated geometry from Class 10 syllabus. The chapter on heredity and evolution also saw some cuts with items like a box on Charles Darwin and the Origin of Life removed.

Moreover, the chapter on Agriculture also saw some of the topics being removed including the section covering the contribution of agriculture to the national economy and employment and output, among others.

Changes were also made to the chapter on gender, religion and caste as a part of the 'rationalisation' exercise. A full page was taken off from the chapter on political parties.

Students will learn about these concepts only if they choose the relevant discipline in Class 11 and 12, according to media reports. For example, only those opting to study chemistry in the final two years before joining a university will learn about the periodic table.

Earlier, when the chapter on the theory of evolution was deleted, it led to serious concerns and discussions in the media, academics, and more than 1,800 scientists.

While talking about the concerns raised, Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar said to the news agency ANI, "Due to Covid-19, rationalisation of courses was going on, to reduce the burden of studies on the child. If a child wants to study, Darwin's Theory is available on all websites. In Class 12, there is already Darwin's Theory in the syllabus so there should not be such false propaganda."