Similarly, in the Class 10 syllabus, the topic “Impact of Globalization on Agriculture” has been dropped from a chapter on ‘Food Security’. Translated excerpts from two poems in Urdu by Faiz Ahmed Faiz in the section ‘Religion, Communalism and Politics – Communalism, Secular State’ have also been excluded this year.
The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has also removed from the course material chapters on ‘Democracy and Diversity’.
When asked about the rationale behind the selection of subjects or chapters, officials said the changes are part of the rationalization of the curriculum and are in line with the recommendations of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
The dropped chapter “Central Islamic Lands” in Class 11 History syllabus talks about the rise of Islamic empires in the Afro-Asian regions and its implications for the economy and society, as detailed in last year’s syllabus.
The chapter focuses on the arena of Islam in the context of its emergence, the rise of the Caliphate, and empire building.
Similarly, in the Class 12 history course, the chapter titled ‘The Mughal Court: Reconstructing Histories through Chronicles’ examined the history of the Mughal courts to reconstruct the social, religious and cultural history of the Mughals.
The syllabus shared with schools for the academic session 2022-23 also prompts the board’s decision to go back to a single board examination in one session from the two-session examination last year.
While the two-term exams were announced as a one-time special measure in the wake of the COVID pandemic, board officials last week said a final call would be taken in time keeping in view the situation.
“CBSE annually offers syllabus for classes 9 to 12 which includes pedagogical material, syllabus for examinations with learning outcomes, pedagogical practice and evaluation guidelines. Keeping in view the feedback of the stakeholders and other prevailing situations, the Board evaluates is in favor of holding the annual plan of the Board by the end of the academic session 2022-23 and the syllabus has been designed accordingly, a senior official of the board said.
However, this is not the first time that the board has omitted certain chapters that have been a part of the syllabus for decades.
As part of its decision to rationalize the syllabus, CBSE had announced in 2020 that chapters on federalism, citizenship, nationalism and secularism in the Class 11 political science textbook would not be considered while assessing students, leading to A big controversy arose.
The subjects were reinstated in the academic session 2021-22 and continue to be a part of the curriculum.