M. Jagadesh Kumar, Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and former Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), has voiced his support for the rationalisation of the Class 11th and 12th syllabus by National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). He has also raised doubts about the motives of academics who are opposing the syllabus rationalisation.
NCERT has drawn criticism from certain academics for excluding chapters on the Mughal Court, Akbarnama, and Badshahnama from the syllabus of Class 11th and 12th. Addressing the controversy surrounding the removal of the periodic table, democracy, and sources of energy from the Class 10th syllabus, NCERT has issued a detailed clarification. The Chairman of UGC has expressed through a series of tweets that recent attacks by certain “academicians” on NCERT for its textbook revisions are unjustified. It should be noted that the current modifications to textbooks are not the first ones undertaken by NCERT, as they have revised textbooks periodically in the past as well.
“NCERT is fully justified in carrying out the rationalisation of its textbook contents. NCERT has repeatedly stated that the revision of textbooks originates from various stakeholders’ feedback and suggestions,” he stated.
In response to the criticism received, the NCERT has provided a clarification regarding the removal of certain topics during the rationalisation of the syllabus. The rationalisation process, which aimed to reduce the content load on students by 30% in light of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2022, resulted in the exclusion of specific topics. NCERT has emphasised that these changes were made to ensure age-appropriate content and consider the challenges posed by the pandemic. The UGC Chairman has acknowledged that NCERT made modifications to the syllabus of History, Civics, and Hindi. Specifically, the chapters on ‘The Cold War Era’ and ‘US Hegemony in World Politics’ have been removed from the civics textbook, as per NCERT’s statement.
NCERT has further affirmed its commitment to developing a new series of textbooks in accordance with the recently introduced National Curriculum Framework for School Education. The current textbooks, which have undergone rationalisation to alleviate academic burden, are considered a temporary measure.