India cuts the periodic table and evolution from schoolbooks – DW – 06/02/2023
www.dw.com
Crucial science topics will no longer be taught to a large swath of Indian students, according to new government guidance.

In a statement, the council rationalized the reduction by stating they wanted to reduce the content load on students in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. On June 1, India cut a slew of foundational topics from tenth grade textbooks, including the periodic table of elements, Darwin’s theory of evolution, the Pythagorean theorem, sources of energy, sustainable management of natural resources and contribution of agriculture to the national economy, among others. These changes effectively block a major swath of Indian students from exposure to evolution through textbooks, because tenth grade is the last year mandatory science classes are offered in Indian schools.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/evolution-periodic-table-to-stay-part-of-class-9-10-syllabus/articleshow/101058188.cms

  • Suffa@lemmy.wtfEnglish
    43·
    11 days ago

    “101”? Sounds like an American educational system perspective.

    Maybe if you spent more time learning some civics and less focusing on making IT working STEM lords you wouldn’t have voted in Trump.

    This is not priceless general knowledge, it’s hyper niche knowledge that doesn’t apply to the majority of adults lives. Anyone in my country who wanted to pursue these topics would have picked “advanced” versions of the units during year 9/10.

    • SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
      71·
      11 days ago

      The pythagorean theorem or the theory of evolution is not “super niche knowledge”… Do you understand how foundational the pythagorean theorem is? Or how important knowing the theory of evolution is to understand how nature works?

      And the periodic table of elements is literally the building blocks of our reality. Sure, less critical knowledge then the other two, but still vital in my opinion

      I mean, how much scaremongering about “chemicals” and stuff could be resolved if people just knew the very basics of chemistry?

      These things very much tie into being a rational citizen of the world that actually knows how the world works and doesn’t live in fantasyland. This is literally just stuff to ensure that we share a common fundamental view of reality

      • Suffa@lemmy.wtfEnglish
        31·
        10 days ago

        Do you understand how little knowing how evolution works has benefit the average persons life? And as a general concept it could be explained in a sentence, nothing needing entire unit material dedicated to.

        And scare mongering isn’t rational, so why would you expect people to be cured by being given information.

        • SkyeStarfall@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
          2·
          10 days ago

          Because knowledge is a preventative measure to being manipulated

          People also say that knowing that historical events happened don’t benefit them, would you agree with that too? These things are a lot more nuanced than just what direct benefit they give you. Knowing the basics of how our world works, including how nature works, is useful.

          You have no idea how many times I had to explain evolution to people because it was relevant to the conversation and where they were tricked by some weird bullshit. Gaps in knowledge are exploitable, but not only that, the more you know, the higher your capability of connecting concepts together in a sound manner is

          Knowing how evolution works has been generally useful in my life, and I am very happy I know how it roughly works, and the field I’m in is nowhere near biology or chemistry or nature