Minister of State for HRD Satya Pal Singh

scientific community

Class X syllabus

space scientist APJ Abdul Kalam

physicist Vikram Sarabhai

Maharashtra State Council of Educational Research

New chapter ‘Science and Spirituality’ in English book argues for role of faith.Earlier this year,raised hackles of theby rejecting Darwin’s theory of evolution, insisting that no one has seen an ape turn into a man. He even called for removing Darwinism from school and college syllabi. Now it is the modifiedthat is alarming scientists in Mumbai.As against the older syllabus that urged students to develop scientific spirit and attitude, the new content mixes religion with science; last year’s English textbook chapter ‘Scientific Spirit in Daily Life’ has been replaced with ‘Science and Spirituality’ in the new textbook. A three-part adaptation of author Srijan Pal Singh’s book ‘What Can I Give?’, the chapter retells the stories of former president andand aerospace engineer Satish Dhawan.The chapter quotes Dr. Kalam, “Science and faith must co-exit.” It cites that his father was an imam and Dr. Kalam’s best friends were from different faiths. Another part illustrates Sarabhai’s visit to a church, where a reverend said, “Vikram and I are doing the same job. Both science and spirituality seek the Almighty’s blessings for the prosperity of the human mind and body.” Yet another section is a narration of the 102nd birthday celebration of “His Holiness Dr. Sri Sri Shivakumara Mahaswamiji” to which Dr. Kalam was invited and his observations that the seer’s “munificence keeps him strong”.The chapter in the earlier textbook, however, discussed cultivating a scientific attitude, having an inquisitive mind and accepting ideas. It argued, “A man who has imbibed the spirit of science… learns specially from science, which is the collective tested and verified wisdom of mankind, impartial to all disciplines and all religions.”Mirror shared both the chapters with scientists from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education (HBCSE) in Mumbai. Dr. HC Pradhan, a scientist at HBCSE, analyses, “With this change, we are missing out on a very important discussion on scientific spirit and scientific method. Our Constitution mentions scientific spirit as the spirit of inquiry and not accepting something uttered by a religious or a political person. The chapter should have been replaced by something equivalent. The original text from where the chapter has been adapted is titled ‘What can I give?’ That title should have been kept intact and not changed to mean ‘Science and Spirituality’. Dr. Kalam genuinely separated science from religion, but that distinction has not been made in the new content. In fact, it does not even encourage a discussion on science and spirituality, which are two aspects of human endeavour. When the talk of scientific spirit is missing, it shows a pro-religion mindset. With this approach, India’s modernisation will suffer. This is not a matter that is limited to a school textbook. Science is not just about technological advances, but also about the spirit of inquiry.”Aniket Sule, Reader for Science Education at HBCSE, argues, “With a few anecdotes in the new chapter, the author tries to imply a general belief; it shows the lack of scientific temper among those who write textbooks and sends out a wrong message to the youth. There is a problem in our scientific community, which is far behind the international counterpart (in scientific temperament). Poojas are conducted to start new projects and satellite models are taken to temples for blessings. People do not apply scientific spirit to daily life.”According to Dr. Amol Dighe from TIFR, “The chapter in the old syllabus should be mandatory reading for everyone. Developing scientific temper is the fundamental duty of every Indian citizen. It is shocking that such a nice piece of work was removed from the syllabus and not reintroduced in some other form.”When asked why the nature of the subject was changed, education minister Vinod Tawde told Mirror, “I spoke to the Board of Studies (for English). They claim to have not omitted anything and have only added one more aspect to ‘Scientific Spirit in Daily Life’.The books are written by teachers. The government has no role to play. However, if there are any objections, one can write to theand Training (MSCERT).”Incidentally, at a recent event to launch the new Class X textbooks, Tawde said the government wanted to create ‘Ranchos’ in the state – an inquisitive character in the movie ‘Three Idiots’ based on Ladakh-based innovator Sonam Wangchuk.