The NCERT removed several chapters from the Class 10 textbooks, including the Periodic Table, the contribution of agriculture to the national economy, challenges to democracy, and sustainable management of natural resources.

The changes were announced by the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) last year as part of a “rationalisation” exercise based on expert recommendations meant to reduce the burden on Students. The new textbooks with these deletions and changes have now hit the market.

Even though the Class 10 Chemistry textbook drops the entire chapter that introduces students to the Periodic Table, it remains part of the syllabus for Class 11.

According to the NCERT website, “The National Education Policy 2020 also emphasizes reducing the content load and providing opportunities for experiential learning with a creative mindset. In this background, NCERT has undertaken the exercise to rationalise the textbooks across all classes. Learning Outcomes already developed by the NCERT across classes have been taken into consideration in this exercise.”

“Contents of the textbooks have been rationalised in view of the Overlapping with similar content included in other subject areas in the same class, Similar content included in the lower or higher class in the same subject, Difficulty level, Content, which easily accessible to students without much interventions from teachers and can be learned through children through self-learning or peer-learning, Content, which is irrelevant in the present context. Learning outcomes already developed across the classes are taken care of in this rationalization exercise,” NCERT said.