Why is India cutting back on evolution in schools?

On Wednesday June 14 at 19:30 GMT:
This school year, students under the age of 16 will no longer be taught about evolution or the periodic table of elements. Changes in textbooks, including historical revisions that suit a Hindu nationalist agenda – have shocked the country’s educators, who fear the changes to the curriculum are a sign of a greater acceptance of pseudoscience and right-wing politics.

Issues related to climate change and environmental sustainability have also been removed. of the curriculum. The revisions were approved by the state-run National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and implemented in textbooks for the current school year that began in May. According to NCERT, revisions were made to reduce the educational workload for students burdened by the coronavirus pandemic.

Critics have accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of use school textbook reviews to rewrite history and complement his goal of turning a constitutionally secular India into an ethnic Hindu state. In addition to the removal of some scientific concepts, school-age students can no longer read about Mahatma Gandhi’s opposition to Hindu nationalism, the history of the Muslim leaders of the country’s Mughal Empire, and the secular roots of post-colonial India.

In this episode of The Stream, we will look at how the politicization of textbooks is changing education in India.

In this episode of The Stream, we speak to:
Srishti Jaswal, @buscandosrishti
Journalist

baswanth oruganthi, @BaswanthQuantum
Chemistry Professor, SRM University

Sudhanshu Kaushik, @sudhikaushik
Founder, Young India Foundation