The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is set to release new Class 9 social science textbooks in March, with a strong focus on India's indigenous intellectual and cultural contributions, according to the draft syllabus released by the council.

The new textbooks will emphasise inquiry-driven learning rooted in "Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS)", with perspectives that are "culturally rooted" and connected to "lived realities", the draft syllabus states. The focus, it adds, will be on core concepts "rather than memorisation", in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023.

What Students Will Study 

Under the revised syllabus, students will study Indian contributions across mathematics, philosophy, science and technology, medicine, architecture, agriculture, literature, and art.

The curriculum includes Indian philosophy, Ayurveda, yoga, horticulture, the traditional use of herbs and spices, etymology, and the "22 shrutis" of Indian classical music.

Civilisational History and Democracy  

The draft syllabus highlights the "rich civilisational history of the Indian subcontinent" alongside the emergence of the modern Indian nation. It also refers to early democratic traditions that existed in different regions of ancient India.

Students are expected to "understand and analyse social, cultural, and political life in India over time as well as the underlying historical Indian ethos and philosophy of unity in diversity", while recognising challenges faced in the past and present.

What do Educationists Say

Describing the new curriculum as a clear departure from the earlier curriculum, Dr. Alka Kapur, Principal of Modern Public School, Shalimar Bagh, said the new syllabus adopts a more holistic and integrated framework, "clear shift from last year's content-heavy and event-centric approach."

Another major change, Dr Kapur noted, is the parallel presentation of India's civilisational heritage alongside the emergence of the modern Indian nation. The syllabus introduces students to the idea of "unity in diversity".