Disquiet among UPSC aspirants as NCERT tweaks syllabus

The UPSC preparation remains a long-term goal for hundreds of thousands of Indian youth. In 2022, approximately 11.5 lakh aspirants wrote the Preliminary exam.

History is one of the main subjects to prepare for the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC) exams. But the changes in the course content of Class XI and XII textbooks have created disquiet among candidates.

“Mughal history has not been dropped; there is a rationalisation that has been done. Students would read something in Class VI and the same was repeated in Class XII. This was a long overdue rectification,” says Pradeep Krishna, one of the top coaches for UPSC in Hyderabad. “The preparation of students will not be affected due to this change,” he added.

The UPSC preparation remains a long-term goal for hundreds of thousands of Indian youth. In 2022, approximately 11.5 lakh aspirants wrote the Preliminary exam. “Inclusion of new topics will definitely be a burden from the exam point of view. But learning different perspectives of history will broaden our understanding of the then society, political and economic structures,” says Yerra Gayatri, a candidate who is timing her preparation for the 2025 schedule.

The information about complete erasure of Mughal history appears to be inaccurate as can be seen from the Class XII themes in Indian History-II.  “The Chapter V which was ‘Kings and Chronicles’ has been dropped. The information is already covered in previous classes. There is no loss for students. If Chapter IV, which shows the impact and policies, was dropped that would have been a big loss,” says a history lecturer who coaches civil service aspirants in the Ashok Nagar area.

However, aspirants will miss nuggets of information like this: “Over the past centuries the word (Mughal) has been frequently used – even the name Mowgli, the young hero of Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book, is derived from it”.

“Yes, I am worried. NCERT syllabus is the basis for UPSC exams. Many aspirants like me will start preparing using the NCERT syllabus of earlier years to attempt their Prelims. It will be a challenge to get a grasp of the new syllabus again,” said Anagha, who is studying law and preparing for the exams.