Netizens slam NCERT’s move to delete Darwin’s theory of evolution from books 

As part of its curriculum rationalisation exercise, the NCERT had last year announced that the chapter ‘Heredity and Evolution’ will be replaced with ‘Heredity’ in the Class 10 science textbook

Hyderabad: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has, reportedly, dropped the Darwin’s theory of biological evolution from the science syllabus in the Class X curriculum of the CBSE.

As part of its curriculum rationalisation exercise, the NCERT had last year announced that the chapter ‘Heredity and Evolution’ will be replaced with ‘Heredity’ in the Class 10 science textbook. The list of topics dropped from the chapter include ‘Charles Robert Darwin’, ‘Origin of life on Earth’, ‘Molecular Phylogeny’, ‘Evolution’, and ‘Tracing Evolutionary Relationships’, among others.

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With the recent emission of chapters related to the Mughal Empire from NCERT history books, the latest move did not sit well with the netizens. Several people took to their social media handles to oppose the move, while a few explained how it is vital for students to have exposure to the fundamental discoveries of science.

“Darwin’s theory is a basic thing every one should know !! The whole country stands against your decision (sic),” a user wrote. “Knowledge and understanding of evolutionary biology is important not just to any sub-field of biology, is also key to understanding the world around us. Aftr #MughalHistory #MaulanaAbulKalamAzad, #BJP govt’s #NCERT erased #Darwin frm textbook (sic),” write another.

1/3. BJP’s Satya Pal Singh told parliament in 2018 that Darwin ‘s theory of evolution was wrong – as no one had seen ‘an ape turn into a man.’ True, but in India we’ve witnessed the reverse process in full swing for a while now. Shakes your faith in Darwin.#NCERT #DARWIN #PARI

— P. Sainath (@PSainath_org) April 21, 2023

First, they came for the Mughals,
Then they came for Charles Darwin.

An open letter, signed by over 1800 scientists, has raised serious concern about the NCERT’s decision to drop Darwin’s theory of biological evolution from the science syllabus in the Class 10 textbook.

— Advaid അദ്വൈത് (@Advaidism) April 21, 2023

If anyone thought they will stop at Mughals and Gandhi, then they are in la la land.

Removing Darwin from NCERT books is the beginning.

Be afraid of golden age reconstructive surgery!!!!

— Mini Nair (@minicnair) April 21, 2023

Recently, several scientists, science teachers and other educators have condemned the move claiming that the removal of a significant chapter from science textbooks “is a travesty of education”. In an open letter titled ‘An Appeal Against Exclusion of Evolution from Curriculum’, they have urged the Centre to restore the topics in class X textbooks. Over 1,800 individuals under the Breakthrough Science Society (BSS), jointly signed the open letter.