Periodic table from Class 10 textbooks removed: NCERT

After NCERT's decision last month to remove Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution from Class 9 and Class 10 science textbooks, it has courted controversy once again by removing the periodic table from Class 10 textbooks.

This move by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) comes after a period of syllabus rationalisation during the pandemic, where these chapters were temporarily excluded from the curriculum.

Now, however, NCERT has decided to make these deletions permanent. Scientists and teachers have expressed concerns about the long-term impact of omitting these crucial subjects from the syllabus.

Only students who elect to study chemistry in the final two years of education (before university) will learn about the periodic table. Students, though, can still learn about these subjects, but only if they opt for the relevant subject in Class 11 and Class 12.

In India, Class 10 is the last school year in which science is taught as a compulsory



subject.

The NCERT has made the deletion of Chapter 5 on the periodic classification of elements and Chapter 9 on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, including topics such as the origin of life on Earth, human evolution, and heredity, permanent.

While the specific rationale behind this decision has not been explicitly stated, it is believed to be part of the ongoing syllabus rationalisation process initiated by the NCERT.

The Covid-19 pandemic led to unprecedented disruptions in the education sector, prompting the NCERT to undertake a syllabus rationalisation exercise from December 2021 to June 2022. The aim was to reduce the burden on students and ensure a smoother transition to remote learning.

As part of this exercise, approximately 30% of the syllabus was deleted for Classes 6 to 12. The temporary exclusion of certain topics, including those related to the periodic table and Darwin's theory, was intended to streamline the curriculum during these challenging times.