NCERT rationalises Class 6-12 textbooks content in light of COVID-19 pandemic

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Director of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) Prof Dinesh Prasad Saklani said on June 20 that content in textbooks will be rationalised to reduce the content load on students from classes 6 to 12.

Prof Saklani said, "We all know that COVID-19 pandemic impacted all over the world and has affected children's learning very much. So the NCERT has reduced the content from the books and removed some. I have to say that not only in History but the content has also been removed in all subjects including Science, Mathematics, History, Social and Political life- II. The decision was taken by the Experts and teachers of all subjects, and NCERT accepted it."

The plan to lighten the syllabus had been initiated in December 2021 when the Director in-charge at the time, Sridhar Srivastava, had ordered the head of departments to carry out a review by involving experts on December 15, 2021 and submit a report by December 28, 2021.

As per the NCERT website, the National Education Policy 2020 emphasises reducing the content load and proving opportunities for experiential learning with a creative mindset. NCERT further said that the contents of the textbooks have been rationalised in view of the overlapping with similar content included in other subject areas in the same class.

"In this background, the NCERT has undertaken the exercise to rationalise the textbooks across all classes. Learning outcomes already developed by the NCERT across classes have been taken into consideration in this exercise" as per the NCERT website.

Important topics that have been removed from Class 6 -12 syllabus

The Gujarat Riots of 2022, the Cold War, and Mughal courts have all been removed from the Class 12 textbook. The industrial revolution has been dropped from the Class 11 textbook, while a few Dalit writers have been removed from the Class 7 textbook.

Class 7 History textbooks have also had some pages connected to the "Delhi Sultanate" removed (Our Past- II).
Other Class 12 topics that appear important but were removed in the process include selected sections of 'The Story of Indian Democracy,' 'Social Movements,' 'Patterns of Social Inequality and Exclusion,' and 'Ecosystem,' as well as full chapters of 'Environmental Issues,' 'Human Development,' and 'Developing Psychological Skills,' among others.

The entire chapter on "Weather, Climate, and Animal Adaptations to Climate" has been removed from the Class 7 science syllabus, while the entire chapter on "Pollution of Air and Water" has been removed from the Class 8 scientific syllabus.

(With inputs from ANI)

Image: PTI