CBSE's decision to drop chapters 'unilateral, undemocratic': Sharad Yadav

Opposition leader Sharad Yadav on Wednesday criticised the CBSE's move to rationalise its syllabus by dropping certain chapters, accusing the central government of taking a "unilateral and undemocratic step".

Opposition leader Sharad Yadav on Wednesday criticised the CBSE's move to rationalise its syllabus by dropping certain chapters, accusing the central government of taking a "unilateral and undemocratic step". "As per media reports, the government has decided to delete some important chapters in the garb of reduction of 30 per cent course in the syllabus for students for the academic year 2020-21 in view of the coronavirus crisis. It is a unilateral and undemocratic step. I would say that this is a step towards finishing the democracy in the country," he alleged in a statement.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in its syllabus rationalisation exercise has dropped chapters on democracy and diversity, demonetisation, nationalism, secularism, India's relations with its neighbours and growth of local governments in India, among others, as per the updated syllabus. It was done to reduce course load on students in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the board said. Yadav asked how a student can understand the Constitution of India without a chapter of federalism, and how one can understand the country's history without understanding the social movement.

The Loktantrik Janata Dal leader urged the government to make any changes in the syllabus of secondary classes after consulting all political parties, intellectuals and other stake-holders.