NCERT removes theory of evolution from class 10; academicians protest
In another controversial move, following on the heels of the removal of Mughals from senior classes and mention of the ban on RSS following the assassination of Gandhi, the NCERT has removed Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, a critical part of science for senior students to learn about, from the class 10 syllabus, leading 1,800 academicians to issue a joint statement remanding immediate restoration of this seminal theory to the syllabus.
After the removal of portions related to the Mughals (partly), the ban imposed on RSS following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and any mention of the 2002 Gujarat riots, NCERT has waded into another controversy with the removal of Charles Darwin’s seminal Theory of Evolution from the class 10 science syllabus.
The list the topics dropped from the class 10 science syllabus, as appearing on the NCERT syllabus, includes sections on Charles Darwin, the origin of life, evolution, evolutionary relationships, fossils and human evolution.
The NCERT’s view is that it is part of a rationalisation plan, an argument for it being that there is no need for topics to be repeated across classes. However, many academicians have argued against this, saying that everything some topics need to be taught in junior classes too to give students an idea about them before they are explored further in a senior class, or that for some topics, everything cannot be taught in a junior class and removed from senior class syllabuses.
The latter was the argument used to protest the removal of the Mughals from senor class texts. For the removal of Darwin’s theory of evolution, it is the former argument that is being used: In a statement signed by 1,800 scientists, teachers and others, published on Thursday, it has been said that few students in India choose science in classes 11 and 12, and fewer still choose biology, and so, the removal of the seminal theory from the class 10 syllabus would result in the vast majority of students missing out on a critical topic of learning.
“Knowledge and understanding of evolutionary biology is important not just to any sub-field of biology but is also key to understanding the world around us,” the statement said, further saying that “[d]epriving students … of any exposure to this important field is a travesty of education”.
The academicians demanded immediate restoration of all the topics related to the theory of evolution to the class 10 syllabus.
