Periodic Table Moved From Class 10 Textbooks to Class 11, Not Eliminated: NCERT

Following widespread criticism over the alleged removal of the periodic table from Class 10 textbooks, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has issued a clarification. The council stated that the topic has not been removed but only moved to Class 11 textbooks as part of the rationalisation effort to reduce the burden on students in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

NCERT has also dropped or moved a few other topics across different subjects. In a series of tweets, NCERT mentioned the reasons leading to the revision of the Class 10 syllabus. “During the Pandemic – COVID- 19 situation, students across the stages of school education have struggled a lot to continue their learning through online and other modes,” NCERT wrote.

NCERT explained that fundamental concepts such as elements, symbols, compound formation, atoms, and molecules are addressed in Class 9. In Class 10, the curriculum covers topics including chemical reactions, acids, bases, salts, metals, non-metals, and carbon compounds. A detailed study of the Periodic Classification of Elements (periodic table) has been reserved for students pursuing science in classes 11 and 12.

Also read| NCERT Allegedly Removes Periodic Table from Science Textbook, A Lookback at Chapters Eliminated

The council said the revision was done after considering concerns related to curriculum load including the content load spread over syllabi and textbooks. Concerns over the syllabus were raised by various stakeholders including the Parliamentary Standing Committee, NCERTclarified.

The revision across subjects has considered overlapping of “similar content included in other subject areas in the same class”.

The council affirmed that, in the interest of all students, a thorough analysis of textbooks across subjects and classes with inputs from various stakeholders and subject experts.

The content chosen for the revision prioritizes material that is easily understandable for children, allowing for self-learning or peer learning with minimal teacher intervention. Additionally, irrelevant or outdated content has been excluded from the revised curriculum to ensure its relevance in the present context.

On portions relating to social movements from Class 10, Political Science textbook, Democratic Politics II, and Class 12 Politics in India Since Independence, NCERT said that the expert committee in the process of rationalization felt that the topics were more appropriate to be part of Sociology subject.