Why is NCERT removing crucial chapters on climate change from school textbooks?

The Teachers Against the Climate Crisis (TACC) has claimed that the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has removed crucial chapters on the environment and climate change from the school syllabus. The group has said that a chapter on the greenhouse effect has been deleted from the Class XI Geography syllabus. Apart from this, a chapter on weather, climate and water has been removed from the Class VII syllabus and information on the monsoon has been removed from the Class IX syllabus, reported PTI. 

According to officials, the NCERT has trimmed the curriculum for Classes VI to XII to "reduce the content load" on students in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The officials added that around 30 per cent of the syllabi had been reduced for this academic session. 

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However, the TACC, which is a group consisting of college and university teachers, have demanded that the chapters be reinstated and different facets of the climate crisis be taught to all senior school students in multiple languages and across various disciplines, reported PTI.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a massive disruption to regular learning schedules all over the country. In the context of the ensuing 'learning deficit', it may seem understandable that the NCERT seeks to reduce students' workload by culling material that overlaps with similar material or is 'irrelevant in the present context'. However, none of these concerns applies to fundamental issues such as climate change science, the Indian Monsoon, and the other chapters that have been deleted," the TACC said.

In fact, relevant climate change science is being continuously updated through thousands of peer-reviewed papers published annually and crucial compilations such as the IPCC's latest report earlier this year as well as the first climate change report for the Indian region from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology published in 2020, it observed.

The group emphasised the importance of senior school students across India understanding the essence of updated information on the climate crisis and such information being accessible to them. It added that it was important for students to understand the complexity of the climate crisis in order to respond and "engage intelligently" with it. 

"Getting educated about how climate change is interacting with our environment and society in a range of ways, the changing weather systems, monsoon patterns and water flows, is crucial. It is bizarre that the NCERT has decided to drop related topics from school syllabi because that is where young people are first exposed to and develop an understanding of these issues," said Nagraj Adve, the founder member of TACC.

The group highlighted that classrooms are usually the first source of such information for children, and engagement with the climate crisis has been initiated in schools for students in recent years. "It is therefore essential that schools continue to present students with information about climate change and related issues that is accurate, up-to-date, rational and relevant," they said.