CBSE syllabus sans periodic table irks teachers

Kolkata: Teachers of CBSE board schools have flagged concerns about the possible difficulty its students from the science stream could face in chemistry in Class XI and XII following the NCERT’s decision to do away with the periodic table from the Class X syllabus. With the other two boards — Madhyamik and CISCE — retaining the periodic table, they feel this could be a disadvantage for CBSE students.Deletion of chapters on sustainability and energy resources — the most topical issues in the world today — has also elicited sharp reactions from teachers and parents. NCERT had earlier removed Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution from textbooks for Class IX and X.Academics and teachers say that removing such crucial chapters from school will seriously hinder CBSE students in the long-run, pointing out that each of them play a key role in building the core of the respective subjects.An appeal has been signed by more than 4,500 scientists, teachers, science communicators, through Breakthrough Science Society, a Kolkata-based campaign group, to restore the content that has been removed.Presidency University chemistry department head Arnab Halder felt the decision by NCERT to remove periodic table will be affecting students in learning various topics in chemistry which are interdependent on the periodic table. “The decision will deprive students of knowledge of basic concepts of chemistry,” he said.Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan principal Arun Kumar Dasgupta also felt the move would hamper the students’ learning process. Ballygunge Government School associate chemistry teacher Shyamal Kumar Khanra and Apeejay School Salt Lake physics teacher Bhavani Ravishankar said they felt the same.