Content of textbooks rationalised in view of Covid-19 pandemic: NCERT

NEW DELHI: National Council of Educational Research and Training(NCERT), an autonomous organisation of the government, Director Prof Dinesh Prasad Saklani on Monday said that rationalisation of content in the textbooks will be done in view of the Covid-19 pandemic to reduce the content load on students from Classes 6 to 12. Speaking to ANI Prof Saklani said, "We all know that the Covid-19 pandemic impacted all over the world and has affected children's learning very much. So the NCERT has reduced the content from the books and removed some. I have to say that not only in History but the content has also been removed in all subjects including Science, Mathematics, History, Social and Political life -II. The decision was taken by the Experts and teachers of all subjects, and NCERT accepted it."

As per the website of NCERT, the National Education Policy 2020 emphasises reducing the content load and providing opportunities for experiential learning with a creative mindset. "In this background, the NCERT has undertaken the exercise to rationalise the textbooks across all classes. Learning outcomes already developed by the NCERT across classes have been taken into consideration in this exercise" as per the NCERT website.

As per the NCERT website notification, "Curriculum changes being carried out by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) have removed some chapters from History, Mathematics, Science, Social and Political life from classes 6 to 12.". "Some pages related to the 'Delhi Sultanate' have been removed from the history textbook of class 7 ('Our Past - II'). It also contains chapters related to Tughlaq, Khilji, Lodi and Mughal rulers," the NCERT website added.

When asked about the removal of chapters from History, the Director said that the changes were recommended by the experts and teachers who teach the children. "NCERT does not make any changes on its part, for that, the experts and the teachers who teach the children are called in. They decide what to happen and what not to. Experts decided that these things should be removed. Content load reduces not only in history but science, language, and mathematics but by selecting only history and telling that it has been removed, I think it is not right to hide other subjects.

"NCERT is a professional body and all the changes that have been made have been done as per the due process. And it is not that only NCERT has reduced or removed the curriculum. The State Board has also done the same. But, why NCERT is being targeted is beyond comprehension," he added. NCERT further said that the contents of the textbooks have been rationalised in view of the overlapping with similar content included in other subject areas in the same class. Content, which is easily accessible to students without much intervention from teachers and can be learned by children through self-learning or peer-learning has been rationalised. Content, which is irrelevant in the present context has also been rationalised. This booklet contains information in the tabular form about subject-wise contents which have been dropped and hence are not to be assessed.