Union Minister Subhas Sarkar Rebuffs Reports On Darwin Axe Decision In Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: Facing the heat over reports about biological evolution theory being dropped from Class X NCERT syllabus, Union Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar on Wednesday rebuffed those as mere speculation. 

“Who said that it has been removed? NCERT has prepared the curriculum framework and sent it to all states, seeking their opinions. What is being reported is a figment of someone’s imagination,” he told mediapersons on the sidelines of the third G20 Education Working Group meeting in Bhubaneswar. 

However, the Union Minister earlier told a national daily that the evolution component in the Class X textbook was removed from the chapter ‘Heredity & Evolution’ as a part of rationalisation of science syllabus to lessen the burden on students. “Students also study evolution in Class XII. So, they will now study only heredity in Class X and evolution in Class XII,” he told TNIE.

He added that the changes have been made on basis of recommendations of an expert committee formed by NCERT.

More than 1,800 scientists, teachers, educators, and science enthusiasts from across India had signed an open letter to NCERT condemning removal of Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution from the science textbooks for Class IX and X.

According to reports, ‘Heredity and Evolution,’ was replaced by ‘Heredity’ in Class IX as NCERT carried out a syllabus rationalisation exercise to reduce the burden on students after the COVID pandemic. The NCERT, whose textbooks have been adopted by the Central Board of Secondary Education and 15 state boards, described the changes as part of an effort to rationalise the school syllabus.