The move of removing Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution from the science textbooks for Classes 9 and 10 has drawn the ire of 1,800+ scientists, educators, and science enthusiasts from all over India.
The letter, "An Appeal Against Exclusion of Evolution from Curriculum," signed by representatives of eminent scientific organisations like the Indian Institute of Science, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, and Indian Institute of Technology, was included in a press release from the Breakthrough Science Society on April 20.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), a federal body tasked with advising the central and state governments on school education, had conducted a syllabus rationalisation effort to lessen the burden on students following the covid-19 pandemic.
As a result, "Heredity and Evolution," chapter 9 of the science textbook, was changed to "Heredity." The scientific community, on the other hand, considers the elimination of Darwin's Theory of Evolution to be a 'travesty of education,' and contends that without exposure to this important scientific finding, student's capacity to think critically will be hampered.
The letter went on to say that Darwin's theory of natural selection teaches students the value of critical thinking and the scientific method and that the evolution process is essential to have a scientific approach and mindset for a realistic perspective towards life.
"The country's scientific community is seriously dismayed to see that the theory of biological evolution, which was an integral part of the science syllabus at the 10th standard, has been dropped. It was first dropped as an interim measure for syllabus reduction during the Corona pandemic. But the NCERT document https://ncert.nic.in/pdf/BookletClass10.pdf states that it is dropped permanently as a step in 'content rationalization'!" the open letter begins.
"The fact that the biological world is constantly changing, that evolution is a law-governed process that does not require divine intervention, and that humans have evolved from some species of ape have been the cornerstones of rational thinking ever since Darwin proposed his theory of natural selection," the letter states.
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