An appreciation of evolution enriches the mind. To delete it from the syllabus is as foolish as not teaching a language, or poetry, or history. Being exposed to evolutionary thinking should be considered an essential element of human culture, on a par with being told about the planets, stars and galaxies and where they come from.
The concept of evolution is something that all citizens should be aware of because it speaks directly to who we are, as humans, and our position within the living world. So, the concern is not so much that “evolution is removed” from curricula, inasmuch as students taking biology in Std XI-XII will get exposure to evolutionary biology. The concern specifically is that, other than basics of how the human body functions, evolution is perhaps the most important part of biology that all educated citizens should be aware of and, therefore, it should remain in the Std X curriculum which all students study before they choose different specializations in Std XI.
As scientists, we need to recognize that communicating our research findings to the non-specialist, taking our science to the next-door neighbour or a vendor on the street or a politician, spreading the excitement of science among young people are our responsibilities as much as carrying out our research with sincerity and honesty is.
And while the tragicomical exposure of their lack of understanding of what should be common sense make for unsightly optics, the practice of irrational behavior: superstition happens more frequently, and everywhere around us, and some of it being actively partaken by those known and close to us is far more common and dangerous.
I don’t want to claim that our ancestors knew modern astrophysics or evolution—but this way of thinking was there
It would be a retrograde step to remove the teaching of the theory of evolution from school and college curricula or to dilute this by offering non-scientific explanations or myths.
If there is no record of someone seeing something, that is no particular reason to believe that it cannot have happened
Public talks on evolutionary biology across various cities of India
