Attempt To Curb Democratic Thinking?: CBSE Drops Chapters On Secularism & Federalism

Attempt To Curb Democratic Thinking?: CBSE Drops Chapters On Secularism & Federalism
Pinterest
Published on
2 min read

In order to seemingly reduce the burden on the students, the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) has dropped chapters like Democratic Rights, Food Security in India, Federalism, Citizenship, and Secularism from school courses in the 2020-21 session. The board has revised the Economics and Political Science courses for grades 9 to 12, as well as the Economic and History courses.

Chapters Removed From Courses For Classes 9-12

a) From the Class IX syllabus, chapters on Democratic Rights and Structure of the Indian Constitution have been removed from the Political Science course. A chapter on Food Security in India has also been completely removed from the Economics syllabus.

b) From Class X syllabus, the chapters on Democracy and Diversity, Caste, Religion and Gender, and Challenges to Democracy have been removed from the political science syllabus.

c) From Class XI, chapters on Federalism, Citizenship, Nationalism, and Secularism have been ‘completely removed’ from the Political Science syllabus, while two units – ‘Why do we need Local Governments?’ and ‘Growth of Local Government in India’ – from ‘Local Government’ chapter have been deleted.

d) From Class XII Political Science syllabus, chapters on Security in the Contemporary World, Environment and Natural Resources, Social and New Social Movements in India, and Regional Aspirations have been completely removed.

e) Units like ‘Changing Nature of India’s Economic Development’, ‘Planning Commission and Five Year Plans’ from the chapter on Planned Development have been removed from Class XII syllabus.

f) ‘India’s Relations with its Neighbours: Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar’ has also been deleted for the present session from the chapter ‘India’s Foreign Policy’.

There has been widespread outrage and protests over the changes which are being interpreted as the Centre’s ploy to curb the knowledge of democratic rights, freedom and secularism – the main tenets of our constitution. However, as reported by NDTV Education, the CBSE board declared that it was a ‘one-time measure’ to reduce the exam stress of students due to health emergency and to prevent learning gaps. The Board reiterated that the topics being mentioned: “as dropped are either being covered by the rationalized syllabus or in the Alternative Academic Calendar of NCERT”. Nevertheless, academics have claimed that it was a political move, rather than one which took into consideration the benefits of the students. Many active Twitter users, as well as Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has vehemently opposed the move.

If you enjoyed reading this article, we suggest you also read:

logo
Homegrown
homegrown.co.in