Removal of chapters from textbooks to undermine academic quality

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), in a bid to rationalise the syllabus, has deleted chapters like Non-Aligned Movement, Cold War Era, The Rise of Islamic Empires in Afro-Asian territories, The Chronicles of Mughal Courts and The Industrial Revolution from the History and Political Science textbooks prescribed for classes XI and XII. In addition to this, the translated excerpts from poems by Faiz Ahmed Faiz in Urdu have also been removed from class X textbooks.

Speaking to Education Times, Sudha Acharya, chairperson, National Progressive Schools Conference (NPSC), says, “Besides these topics, in Economics, crucial topics such as ‘Impact of Globalisation on Agriculture’ have been removed from the chapter on Food Security. Similarly, chapters such as Poverty and Infrastructure have also been removed which is not in the academic interest of students as these chapters provide an overview of the Indian economy. In Chemistry, three chapters have been deleted.” This will impact the quality of learning and will have repercussions in competitive exams. Also, students will not be able to analyse the social fabric in the Mughal era, she adds.
Kunal Yadav, chairman, Yadu Public School, Noida (UP), says, “The world around us is changing and textbooks too must be in sync with the change. The changes are a part of the rationalisation of the syllabus and are in alignment with recommendations made by NCERT. Due to the removal of sections on Mughals and the Cold War, students wouldn’t miss out on the part of historical heritage because, in 21st century India, textbooks are not the only source of knowledge. With the advancement in Information Technology, students of higher secondary classes are very aware of secondary sources available for each and every subject.”