PANAJI
The decision to exclude the periodic table, pythagorean theorem and Darwin’s theory of evolution from the curriculum at the school level by the National Council for Education, Research and Training (NCERT) has left top Indian nuclear scientist Dr Anil Kakodkar perplexed.
Calling the ‘periodic table’ a very “important element” of science learning as well as the progress science has made, Dr Kakodkar however declined to express an objective view arguing that he was not familiar with the day to day happenings or the logic that went into these decisions by NCERT.
“I am not familiar with the day to day happenings. It’s actually news for me that something has been taken out...periodic table of course is a very important element of both learning science and integral part in terms of progress science has made,” Dr Kakodkar said.
The top nuclear scientist and a principal figure behind India’s nuclear programme for decades was speaking via video-conferencing at an interaction with the media in Panaji organised to announce the ‘Manohar Parrikar Yuva Scientist Award’.
Dr Kakodkar heads a four-member ‘panel of experts’ set up by the Goa government to scrutinise applications and eventually pick the winner of the award, an annual affair from this year on.
“I don’t have full details on what has happened and what is the logic behind it. So it is difficult for me to comment in a very specific manner,” Dr Kakodkar said when asked what his views were on the decision, slammed by the scientific community across the country.
Kakodkar said, the world of knowledge is expanding so fast that it is quite a challenge for educationists.
“It is quite possible that there must have been some logic...you can’t be having everything (in the curriculum) so something has to be dropped and particularly with the new education policy where at school level they are trying to be more comprehensive...in addition to science they want to cover humanities, the arts...nature,” Kakodkar said, adding that the compromises may have happened as to what is important and what is not.
“But I’m sure that people will deliberate and they will come to the right conclusions,” Dr Kakodkar said while voicing the disclaimer that he cannot give a specific view on the issue.
The decision by NCERT to omit the periodic table, the organising icon of chemistry and widely used also in physics and other branches of science, from school curriculum evoked sharp criticism and earned it ridicule from academia and the scientific community.
The national body then clarified that the periodic table has not been omitted wholesale but will be taught to those opting for science studies in Class XI and XII.
Kakodkar had headed India’s Atomic Energy Commission for many years and was a central figure of the team that led the country’s nuclear programme. He has roots in Goa, whose father Puroshattam Kakodkar was a senior Congressman and an MP from North Goa.
