A school curriculum drafted by a government-appointed committee has recommended dropping environmental studies (EVS) as a subject for Classes III to V, a move a veteran educationist suggested would dilute the syllabus and undermine "critical thinking".
A "pre-draft" of the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCFSE), prepared by a panel of academics and representatives of education-related NGOs, has recommended replacing EVS with a subject christened “world around us”, which emphasises learning through physical exploration and not textbooks.
EVS, taught only in Classes III to V, is an interdisciplinary subject that integrates science, social science and environmental education that includes plants and animals too.
Anita Rampal, former dean of faculty (education) at Delhi University and former chairperson of the NCERT’s textbook development committee for primary education, said the EVS syllabus linked science with social issues and encouraged children to ask questions relating to their lives and issues of justice.
“Children develop critical thinking at an early stage through their study of EVS. They ask questions. The government does not seem to like this,” Rampal said.
The controversy comes at a time the NCERT, the apex national textbook-preparing body, has dropped various topics from the syllabuses of higher classes ranging from content related to the Mughals and social inequality to evolutionary theory. The decisions are seen as regressive by many academics.
From Class VI, EVS makes way for the separate subjects of science and social science.
The pre-draft NCFSE, which has been put up on the education ministry website with feedback sought from the public, says that most schools lack teachers with specific expertise to teach EVS and the subject is taught mainly by social science teachers.
It implies that the subject is taught in a bookish manner and that the various activities suggested in the EVS syllabus are not conducted properly.
“The world around us should rely less on the textbook and more on experiential learning with physical exploration as the main source of content,” the document says.
Rampal said: “What the document says is that the EVS teachers are failing to look at the inter-disciplinarity of the subject. This is a false charge and a strange alibi for removing the crucial subject.”
She added: “Teachers who conduct primary classes are supposed to teach all subjects. Besides, the National Education Policy repeatedly claims it will promote interdisciplinary learning. How, then, is the (pre-draft) NCFSE making contrary assertions? Dumping EVS will have very damaging implications for children’s learning.”
Rampal also pointed to the document’s emphasis on “foundational” literacy and numeracy skills to express fear about a possible “dumbing down” of the curriculum in lower classes.
She said studies had established that children were capable of learning a broader range of concepts — like those related to symmetry, shapes and creative writing — than mere “foundational” literacy and numeracy.
She said a dilution of the syllabus would not affect pupils at private schools, “which will continue to use texts, materials and extra activities for their children”, but would hit the children of poor parents enrolled in government schools. “How does this ensure equity and democracy?”
Last updated on 07 Aug 2023
