The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has removed chapters related to the Non-Aligned Movement, the Cold War era, the rise of Islamic Empire in the Afro-Asian regions, the history of the Mughal courts and the Industrial Revolution from the History and Political Science syllabus of Classes 11 and 12. Similarly, the topic ‘Impact of Globalization on Agriculture’ has been dropped from the chapter on ‘Food Security’ in the Class 10 syllabus. Along with this, the translated excerpt of two Urdu poems of Faiz Ahmed Faiz from the section ‘Religion, Communalism and Politics-Communalism Secular State’ has also been excluded this year. CBSE has also removed chapters on ‘Democracy and Diversity’ from the syllabus material.
Asked about the rationale for deleting subjects or chapters, the officials said the change is part of the rationalization of the curriculum and is in line with the recommendations of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). As per last year’s syllabus description, the chapter ‘Central Islamic Lands’, which was dropped this year from the Class 11 History syllabus, talks about the rise of the Islamic Empire in the Afro-Asian region and its impact on the economy and society. Similarly, the chapter titled ‘The Mughal Court: Reconstructing Histories through Chronicles’ in Class 12 History syllabus explores the history of the Mughal courts in relation to the reconstruction of the social, religious and cultural history of the Mughals.
The syllabus shared with schools for the year 2022-23 academic session also signals the board’s decision to go back to a single-board examination from the two-part examination in one session made last year. However, the system of conducting the examination in two parts was announced as a one-time special measure in view of the COVID epidemic. Board officials had said last week that keeping in mind the situation, final cognizance would be taken in time. A senior board official said, “CBSE offers annual syllabus for classes IX to 12 which includes academic material, syllabus for examinations along with learning outcomes, pedagogical exercises and assessment guidelines. Keeping in view the stakeholders and other current situations, the Board is in favor of conducting an annual plan of evaluation at the end of the academic session 2022-23 and the syllabus has been designed accordingly.” However, this is not the first time. This is when the board has removed some of the chapters which have been a part of the syllabus for decades. As part of its decision to rationalize the syllabus, CBSE had announced in 2020 that chapters on federalism, citizenship, nationalism and secularism in Class 11 Political Science textbook would not be considered while evaluating students, creating a major controversy. happened. These subjects were reinstated in the 2021-22 academic session and continue to be a part of the curriculum.