NCERT textbook revisions and controversies under BJP

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) syllabus has come under fire again, with changes being made for Class 10 and 12 textbooks.

Chapters on the periodic table and democracy have been scrapped with the Centre saying it was done to reduce workload in view of the Covid pandemic.

Notably, the WHO chief has declared an end to Covid as a global emergency, and this is not the first debatable alteration the BJP-led NDA government has brought to the NCERT syllabus since it came to power in 2014.

Here's a look at all the NCERT textbook revisions since 2014 and the controversies surrounding them.

NCERT revisions and controversies

The NCERT is the apex resource organisation of the Indian government which advises central and state governments on academic matters of school education. Their model textbooks are adopted by school systems across the country.

While there have been controversies over NCERT syllabus changes in the past, there have been accusations of 'saffronisation' since the BJP came into power.

In 2017, a change in the NCERT book 'Recent Developments in Indian Politics' saw a change in the nomenclature of the riots, where the 'anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat' was altered to 'Gujarat riots'.

Read | NCERT drops references to Khalistan demand from class 12 political science textbook

A map of East and South East Asia was removed from the Class XII Political Science textbook, following controversy. The map depicted Aksai Chin as a 'disputed area'.

The chapters on Mughal Empire were also removed from the syllabus, which was welcomed by some BJP leaders like Kapil Mishra.

From Class 12, chapters related to 'Kings and Chronicles; the Mughal Courts (C. 16th and 17th centuries)' have been removed from the History book 'Themes of Indian History-Part 2'.

The 12th-class Civics book has also been revised. Two chapters titled, 'American Hegemony in World Politics' and 'The Cold War Era' have been removed from the book.

Continuing with the changes, two chapters namely, 'Rise of Popular Movements' and 'Era of One Party Dominance' from the Class 12th textbook 'Indian Politics after Independence' have also been removed.

Changes have been made in Class 10th and 11th textbooks as well, such as chapters on 'Democracy and Diversity', 'Popular Struggles and Movements', and 'Challenges of Democracy' have been removed from the Class 10th book 'Democratic Politics-2'.

Chapters such as 'Central Islamic Lands', 'Clash of Cultures', and 'Industrial Revolution' have been dropped from Class 11th textbook 'Themes in World History'.

There were changes to sections on Mahatma Gandhi in the books as well.

'Gandhiji's death had a magical effect on communal situation in the country', 'Gandhi's pursuit of Hindu-Muslim unity provoked Hindu extremists' and 'Organisations like RSS were banned for some time' were removed from the class 12 political science textbook for the new academic session.

Most recently, Evolution is among the topics that have been dropped from the NCERT texts, with the Centre maintaining all the while that the changes have been made to lighten the pressure on students.

(With agency inputs)