Why has NCERT Removed Concepts of Periodic Table and Democracy from the Class 10 Syllabus? Know the Reason

The National Council of Educational Research & Training (NCERT) is responsible for setting and regulating the school education curriculum in India. It is an autonomous organisation set up by the Government of India in 1961. The NCERT is under fire lately for its controversial decision to remove the periodic table and concepts of democracy from the Class 10 syllabus.

NCERT earlier removed chapters on the Mughal Dynasty from CBSE and UP Board history syllabi. Now, another controversy has erupted after the NCERT cut the concepts of evolution theory, periodic table and democracy from class 9 and 10 textbooks. The move has drawn widespread criticisms from teachers, scientists and eminent scholars who express concern for the direction the education system is heading towards.

NCERT had removed the mentioned topics along with several others during the COVID-19 pandemic era as well but has now decided to make the omissions permanent. NCERT argues that this will benefit students and is part of the organisation’s long-overdue rationalisation.

Dive in to know what topics NCERT has removed from class 9 and 10 curriculum and the reason behind it.

Also Read: Why Has NCERT Removed Chapters On The Mughals From Its Class 12 History Syllabus?

What are the topics removed by the NCERT in Classes 9 and 10?

In the last few weeks, NCERT omitted Charles Darwin’s theory of Evolution from Class 9 textbooks. Now, it has dropped the following chapters.

NCERT Syllabus Rationalisation: What is it?

NCERT is planning a major overhaul of the textbooks and it’s the need of the hour. Many facts and topics in the books are outdated by decades and have to be updated with modern education frameworks.

NCERT has responded to its critics and made it clear that it has no intentions of interfering with scientific or historical facts to appease anyone. The omissions are part of the ongoing rationalization process and the deleted topics are present in the curriculum of higher classes.

Read NCERT’s response to the removal of Evolution and Periodic Table from Science textbooks below.

“NCERT attempted to rationalise the contents of the textbooks in 2021 considering following criteria: a. Overlapping with similar content included in the other subject area in the same class. b. Similar content included in the lower or higher class in the same subject. c. High difficulty level d. Content, which is easily accessible to children and does not require much intervention from the teachers and can be learnt through self-learning or peer-learning. e. Content, which is not relevant in the present context or is outdated. f. Learning outcomes already developed across the classes are taken care of in this rationalization exercise.”

“With respect to the removal of the concepts of periodic table and evolution are concerned, the same has not been removed from the school education curriculum but in fact are available in appropriate detail in classes 11 and 12.”