HYDERABAD: Hundreds of scientists and the Breakthrough Science Society have objected to the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) dropping Darwin's theory of biological evolution from its textbooks. In an open letter, they have asked the Centre to restore the theory to its rightful place in class X textbooks
Devarshi Gangaji, Telangana state committee vice-president of the Breakthrough Science Society, said. "The theory of biological evolution, which was an integral part of the science syllabus in the 10th standard, was first dropped as an interim measure for syllabus reduction during the Covid-19 pandemic. But an NCERT document states that it has been dropped permanently as a step in 'content rationalization'."
She added that students will remain seriously handicapped if deprived of this fundamental discovery of science. "The fact that the biological world is changing and that humans have evolved from some species of ape have been the cornerstones of rational thinking ever since Charles Darwin proposed his theory of natural selection," she said.
The letter has been signed by 1,800 scientists, teachers, educators, science popularisers and "rational-minded citizens. "We demand that Darwin's theory of evolution should be taught with adequate importance in the 9th-10th standards.. Evolutionary biology is an area of science with a huge impact on how we choose to deal with an array of problems we face as societies and nations from medicine and drug discovery, epidemiology, ecology and environment, to psychology, and it also addresses our understanding of humans and their place in the tapestry of life," the letter read.