The potential harm of NCERT’s decision has to be assessed against this background of an already existing surfeit of unexamined irrational beliefs parading as compatible with science.
https://thewire.in/education/indias-long-goodbye-to-darwin
The impunity of National Council of Educational Research and Training seems to stem from an unstated belief that because the majority Hindus control the reins of the state, nothing that has the potential to challenge Hindu beliefs can be permitted in schools, regardless of the universal consensus for the scientific validity of Darwinism. Moreover, the New Education Policy has given NCERT the mandate to “decolonise” school education to make it more properly Bharatiya.
NCERT’s “rationalisation” of school curricula by eliminating Darwin, the periodic table, electromagnetism and discussions about the sustainable use of natural resources has evoked horror and shock in India and around the world. While the horror at this backward step is perfectly understandable, shock is unwarranted because Darwin’s dismissal was pretty much on the cards.
by Meera Nanda
28/06/2023