India’s scientific research on Arctic, Antarctica and Himalayas soon to be part of NCERT textbooks

The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences has reached out to the NCERT to include India's significant advancements in research on the Arctic, Antarctica and the Himalayas as part of its school textbook within its curriculum.

Ministry of Earth Sciences Secretary M Ravichandran said the National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has constituted a committee to bring out the importance of research in these areas in school textbooks.

India has two active research stations -- Maitri and Bharti -- in Antarctica. The first research station, Dakshin Gangotri, set up in 1983, had to be abandoned after it sank in the snow.

Thamban Meloth, director of the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), said several students involved in the research have been to Antarctica in recent years.

Although the Antarctica expedition finds mention in NCERT textbooks but it has not been updated for a long time now. There is very limited mention of the ongoing research in the Arctic and the Himalayan regions, too.

Post-Covid, NCERT had also dropped topics such as climate change, monsoon and greenhouse effect from textbooks, in order to optimize the syllabus.

The council later clarified that the topics would be restored with the release of books based on the new curriculum framework. These books are currently being worked on and will be available for all classes by 2026.