The CBSE has removed chapters from history and political science syllabus for classes 11 and 12 about the Non-Aligned Movement, the Cold War era, the establishment of Islamic empires in Afro-Asian areas, the chronicles of Mughal courts, and the industrial revolution.
Similarly, the topic “impact of globalisation on agriculture” has been removed from a chapter on “Food Security” in the class 10 syllabus. This year, the translated portions from two Urdu poems by Faiz Ahmed Faiz in the section ‘Religion, Communalism and Politics – Communalism, Secular State’ were also removed.
The two Faiz poem excerpts “had been part of the curriculum for over ten years as part of the section on ‘Religion, Communalism, and Politics – Communalism, Secular State’ in the Class 10 National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbook, Democratic Politics II.” They were included in posters that have now been removed from the new syllabus.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has also removed chapters on ‘democracy and diversity’ from the course content.
When asked why certain topics or chapters were dropped, authorities said the adjustments were made as part of the syllabus’s rationalisation and were in line with suggestions from the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), according to news agency PTI.
According to the description in last year’s syllabus, the omitted chapter “Central Islamic Lands” in the class 11 history syllabus discusses the establishment of Islamic empires in Afro-Asian areas and their ramifications for economy and society.
The chapter focused on the emergence of Islam, the growth of the caliphate, and the building of empires.
Similarly, the dropped chapter ‘The Mughal Court: Reconstructing Histories through Chronicles’ in the class 12 history syllabus looked at the chronicles of Mughal courts to reconstruct the Mughals’ social, religious, and cultural histories.
The 2022-23 academic session syllabus also hints at the board’s decision to switch from a two-term exam to a single-board exam in a session, as opposed to the two-term exam last year.
While the two-term exam was declared as a one-time exceptional measure in response to the Covid pandemic, board officials stated last week that a definitive decision will be made in due course once the situation was assessed.
“Every year, the CBSE publishes a curriculum for classes 9 to 12 that includes academic content, test syllabuses with learning outcomes, pedagogical practises, and assessment criteria. The board has decided to undertake the yearly scheme of assessment at the end of the academic session 2022-23, based on stakeholder comments and other current situations, and the curriculum has been created appropriately,” according to a senior board official.
Chapters like ‘Democracy and Diversity,’ ‘Popular Struggle Movement,’ and ‘Challenges to Democracy,’ which looked at social divides and inequality in a global framework, have been removed from the political science textbook Democratic Politics II.
However, this isn’t the first time the board has removed particular chapters from the curriculum that have been in place for decades.
The CBSE announced in 2020 that chapters on federalism, citizenship, nationalism, and secularism in the class 11 political science textbook will not be included while assessing students as part of its move to rationalise the syllabus, causing a massive controversy.
In the 2021-22 academic year, the topics were restored and are still part of the curriculum.
The Chenab Times News Desk