Union HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ”Nishank” on Thursday said there has been an “uninformed commentary” on exclusion of certain topics from the CBSE syllabus to portray a false narrative. The comments by the minister came following a controversy over the reduction of syllabus by the CBSE due to the COVID-19 situation, with the Opposition alleging that chapters on India”s democracy and plurality are being “dropped” to propagate a particular ideology. “There has been a lot of uninformed commentary on the exclusion of some topics from CBSE syllabus. The problem with these comments is that they resort to sensationalism by connecting topics selectively to portray a false narrative. “While it is easy to misconstrue exclusion of 3-4 topics like nationalism, local government, federalism, etc and build a concocted narrative, a wider perusal of different subjects will show that this exclusion is happening across subjects,” Nishank said in a series of tweets. The minister reiterated that the exclusions from the syllabus are a one-time measure taken in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. “As CBSE has clarified, schools have been advised to follow the NCERT Alternate Academic Calendar, and all the topics mentioned have been covered under the same. The exclusions are merely a one-time measure for exams, due to the COVID19 pandemic.
