Thread by @KumarSeshadri

This is from the list of "rationalized content" - i.e., stuff that will be dropped - from the syllabus of class X, from the website of the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) in India.

ncert.nic.in/rationalised-c…

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The rationale for the "rationalisation" of content is that the same subjects are covered in a higher class.

So evolution is covered in XII standard biology, and the periodic table in XII standard chemistry. So why teach it in Xth?

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The problem with this logic is that, in India, students opt for different "streams" after the Xth standard (class X) board exam.

Some opt for science, some for commerce, some for arts.

Non-science stream students will NEVER encounter evolution or the periodic table again.
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Thinking that evolution is something that only those who study biology and related fields such as medicine and pharmacology need, or that the periodic table is something that only those pursuing chemistry need, reflects the illiteracy and lack of understanding of a person.

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Prime Minister #Modi's own educational qualifications have been the topic of intense speculation in India, with people suggesting that he was uneducated, and Universities producing dubious copies of his supposed degrees which have inconsistencies.

indiatoday.in/india/story/hu…

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Modi himself is on record that he has never seen the interiors of a college, but that he studied for BA and MA degrees through correspondence courses:

youtube.com/shorts/gbqIjei…

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Of course, there's no requirement that the PM should be educated, and it is not necessary that educated leaders always make better decisions.

After all, a highly educated leader might run a sophisticated corruption scam.

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But this decision by the #BJP government highlights the danger arising from uneducated people leading us. It's okay for uneducated people to lead, so long as they rely on the advice of educated people to guide them.

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But, as opposition leader @RahulGandhi recently highlighted, #PMModi perhaps believes he doesn't need advice. A few years ago, he confidently told fawning reporters that he had told Indian Air Force pilots to fly during the rain so they wouldn't be detected by enemy radar.

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Of course, this is not true, and if the PM had asked his Air Chief Marshal, he would have told him this was rubbish.



But this is not the only unscientific thing said by the #Indian #PM

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He also said at the most prestigious international scientific conference in India that he believed Indians knew about plastic surgery, stem cell technology, and airplanes thousands of years ago. These are not facts. They are what illiterates in India believe.

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But the decision to exclude important topics from basic education has changed the PM's lack of education from a personal deficit to a societal calamity.

As a person who regularly made uneducated statements, he was merely the butt of jokes.

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But these changes to the educational system in India will make all Indians the butt of jokes.

They say contact with great minds raises one's own intellect.

Similarly, being led by lesser minds can lower the intelligence of an entire nation.

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If you don't understand evolution, you will not even understand the different variants of the #Covid virus that are regularly mentioned in the news. Without that knowledge, you are unlikely to cooperate when the government asks you to get a vaccine for a new deadly virus.

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Similarly, chemistry is not for chemists alone. Citizens today have to make decisions about a wide range of complex topics, such as pollution and climate change, and the periodic table is the foundation of chemistry.

But only an educated person will understand this.

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The #IndianGovernment's decision has shocked people around the world. Here is the reaction of the most prestigious scientific journal in the world, #Nature

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nature.com/articles/d4158…

These are not politically motivated reactions. The international scientific community is genuinely concerned about the scientific health of India.

One can only hope the government will reverse course, but given this government's obstinacy, that is unlikely.

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