A group of more than 1,800 scientists, science teachers and educators has written an open letter raising concerns about the chapter on “Theory of Biological Evolution” being dropped from the [Indian National Council of Educational Research and Training, or] NCERT textbook for Class 10.
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’.
The new books as per the rationalised curriculum have hit the market now with the commencement of new academic session.
Demanding that the theory of Darwinian evolution be restored in secondary education, the signatories, who are part of the “Breakthrough Science Society”, have said that understanding the process of evolution is “crucial in building a scientific temper” and depriving students of this exposure is “travesty of education”.
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“Knowledge and understanding of evolutionary biology is important not just to any sub-field of biology, but is also key to understanding the world around us. Evolutionary biology is an area of science with a huge impact on how we choose to deal with an array of problems we face as societies and nations from medicine and drug discovery, epidemiology, ecology and environment, to psychology, and it also addresses our understanding of humans and their place in the tapestry of life,” the letter said.
