Opinion UGC chairman writes: Why NCERT revisions must be revisited

Rationalisation in textbooks was meant to alleviate Covid stress. NCERT should assure parents that it will revisit and review

To ease the apprehensions of parents and students, NCERT should clarify that this year's truncated science syllabus is only a temporary phase and it will fix the science syllabus in the 2024 academic session. (Representational)

M Jagadesh Kumar

June 19, 2023 09:05 AM IST First published on: Jun 19, 2023 at 07:16 AM IST

Scientists and educators have recently expressed consternation about the rationalisation of NCERT science textbooks. Before we look at these concerns, let us remind ourselves that our students went through a challenging situation during the last three years due to the Covid pandemic. They were deprived of their natural environment of schools and friends and were confined to their homes. This naturally led to stress among them. Several measures had to be taken to address this challenge. To keep continuity in the teaching-learning processes, online teaching was adopted. To address the issue of reducing the academic load, particularly for school students, NCERT dropped some portions of the syllabus during the pandemic. Parents, students, and educators received it well.

Experts in some quarters, however, raised concerns when the NCERT decided to continue with the truncated science syllabus of the Covid period, as seen in the just-published NCERT Class 10 science textbooks. The question is, won’t that leave students with an incomplete view of science — particularly those who do not progress to Classes 11 and 12?

In some respects, I agree with the criticism that teaching evolution, the periodic table and similar topics only in Classes 11 and 12 — skipping them at earlier stages — will impact all students, especially those who drop out of school by the end of Class 10 or choose to study disciplines other than science at a later stage. The global practice is that topics such as evolution, the periodic table and sources of energy are taught to students before they complete 10th standard.

But let us not jump to conclusions and doubt NCERT’s intentions. This criticism of the Covid period “syllabus rationalisation” and its continuation in this academic year presupposes that NCERT will not look at the truncated syllabus and revise it. The basis for syllabus rationalisation by NCERT has not come out of the blue. The Covid period did affect the learning experience of our students. Students who will now enter Classes 9 and 10 were in Classes 7 and 8 during the Covid period. They experienced diminished learning outcomes beyond their control. NCERT might have thought it prudent to keep the truncated syllabus of the Covid period for one more year so the students who are now in Classes 9 and 10 are not subjected to undue stress. Such thinking, however, was more than merely superficial. NCERT’s decision was likely taken after feedback from stakeholders and experts. I am sure NCERT will revert to a more comprehensive science syllabus in school textbooks. NCERT is an expert body and it will revisit and revise all these topics — as it has been doing all along so that our students acquire a broad idea of the emerging science topics during their schooling.

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To ease the apprehensions of parents and students, NCERT should clarify that this year’s truncated science syllabus is only a temporary phase and it will fix the science syllabus in the 2024 academic session. That would be the rational thing to do. We cannot continue to teach our school students trimmed science. In school education, topics such as evolution, the periodic table, and energy sources should be introduced as early as Class 6 to Class 8 to stoke students’ curiosity. It is not uncommon to see such a practice in school curricula, globally. Students can then study these topics in depth up to the 12th standard. I am sure NCERT is working on a holistic revision of the science syllabus without burdening the students with a lot of information.

NCERT science books have been of high quality and have addressed the learning goals of generations of students. Science is global. Therefore, we must examine how science is taught worldwide. NCERT should ensure that the science textbooks from Class 6 to Class 10 carry the basic concepts in all branches of natural sciences (earth, life, physical, and space sciences) and also contain emerging concepts in science, engineering, and technology — all this should be done gradually. By the time they complete the 10th standard, our students must be trained to develop ways of thinking such as interpreting data, synthesising information, meaningfully explaining observed phenomena, designing solutions to problems, and acquiring system-level appreciation cutting across realms of science. These are global approaches and are in tune with NEP2020. NCERT is well endowed with expertise to secure that our school science books are top-standard. I am sure NCERT’s science books will continue to ignite the imagination of our students.

The writer is Chairman, UGC and former VC of JNU. Views expressed are personal