NCERT removes a handful of topics from Class 10 syllabus as part of syllabus rationalisation which includes a chapter on periodic table of elements.

According to the list of rationalised content released by the council in June last year, a chapter titled ‘Periodic Classification of Elements’ was dropped from the science textbook of Class 10 (PTI).

The changes to the Class 10 textbooks were announced in June last year, and was a rationalisation exercise based on expert recommendations according to statement by NCERT.

The move was taken in view of reducing the workload during the COVID 19 pandemic.

Other exclusion from class 10 science book includes the chapter on evolution. It remains a chapter in class 12 biology textbook. Similarly the class 11 chemistry textbook contains the chapter on Periodic table.

Other topics excluded from current syllabus includes Fibre and Fabrics, Why we fall ill.

Apart from its in-house experts, the NCERT had roped in 25 external experts, drawn from the faculty of Delhi University, ICHR, various Kendriya Vidyalayas and private schools for carrying out the rationalisation of its syllabus.

The factors cited by the NCERT behind the deletions include content which are “overlapping”, “not relevant or outdated in the present context”, “difficult”, “easily accessible to children and can be learned through self-learning or peer-learning”.

The move means those who would opt for science as a subject in class 11, will study the periodic table in Chemistry in NCERT books.

The NCERT has dropped references to the demand for a separate Sikh nation Khalistan from the class 12 Political Science textbook following objections from the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), according to top education ministry officials.