Darwin's theory dropped from NCERT curriculum ? Mos Education clarifies

Darwin’s Theory has not been removed from the The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) curriculum stated Minister of State for Education, Dr Subhas Sarkar. He further clarified that a student of class 10th can still study the theory and that it continues to remain a part of the 12th curriculum too.   

MoS Education Dr. Subhas Sarkar said, "Claims that Darwin's theory has been dropped from NCERT curriculum are misleading. When rationalisation of courses was being done due to COVID to reduce the burden on students, there was no Darwin's theory upto class 10th. If any student, upto class 10th wants, he/she can study the same. Darwin's Theory still exists in the class 12th curriculum. Such misleading claims should not be made."

Response after a letter from the scientific community

The education ministry responded after a letter written by about 1800 scientists, science teachers, and educators raised concerns about dropping the chapter on ‘Theory of Biological Evolution’ from the NCERT textbook for Class 10. While talking to ANI, Subhas Sarkar said, “It is a misleading propaganda to remove Darwin’s Theory from the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) Curriculum.”

As a part of the curriculum rationalisation exercise, the NCERT announced last year that in the class 10 textbook the chapter ‘Heredity and Evolution’ will be replaced with ‘Heredity’. Among the topics dropped from the chapter are ‘Evolution’, ‘Acquired and Inherited Traits’, ‘Tracing Evolutionary Relationships’, ‘Fossils’, ‘Evolution by Stages’, ‘Evolution Should Not Be Equated With Progress’ and ‘Human Evolution’.

It’s important to recall that scientists, educators, and science teachers from some of the top institutes such as the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), and IITs, among others, in the form of an open letter expressed their reservations about the chapter on ‘Theory of Biological Evolution’ being dropped from the NCERT textbook for Class 10.