Economics section of Grade VII NCERT syllabus undergoes major revamp
NEW DELHI: In keeping with the times, an upgraded and modernised textbook for Grade VII has been released by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), an autonomous organisation under the Education Ministry, on Tuesday (June 10).
The economics section has seen a major revamp with latest developments including digital payment incorporated in it. NCERT books are used by the CBSE for its students with a few State governments also adopting them.
The social science textbook titled `Exploring Society: India and Beyond', which incorporates History, Geography and Economics with colour photographs and modern examples was released online.
Speaking to The New Indian Express about the changes being made, Srishti Chauhan, Young Professional, of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, said, 'We have updated the syllabus in tune with the times in the just completed Part-I book for Class VII which has been uploaded online. It would be adopted by the CBSE for the academic year 2025-2026. Part-II is getting ready now. We are also updating both the parts for Class VIII for this academic year.'
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The Hindu
4 hours ago
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Letters to the Editor — June 13, 2025
Air accident The accident to an Air India flight, from Ahmedabad to the United Kingdom, is shocking. We pray for the souls who were on board the plane and wish their families strength and courage. Though the investigation into the crash may take some time, airlines in India should ensure that there are no compromises when it comes to the safety of the air passenger. A.J. Rangarajan, Chennai Limited progress The progress being made as far as an India-U.S. trade deal is concerned (Page 1 'India, U.S. inch closer to limited trade agreement', June 12) is encouraging, especially amid global economic uncertainty. While an initial 'mini-deal' is welcome, India and the United States must resist piecemeal compromises. Instead, they must pursue a holistic, fair, and mutually beneficial pact. Tariff reductions and market access should be reciprocal, not one-sided. India must safeguard its domestic interests while opening its doors for innovation and investment. A deadline-driven approach, with transparency, will strengthen trust and global credibility. Dr. Vijay Kumar H.K., Raichur, Karnataka NCERT textbooks While the National Council of Educational Research and Training is designed to educate children through textbooks that could help them grow as knowledgeable and educated youth, missing portions on the farm sector and farmers is worrying ('New NCERT text books don't carry 'poverty and colonized' narratives', June 11). Children should know, and be taught early on, that India is basically an agricultural country and that the farm sector is very crucial. Ground reality should be a priority in the syllabus. A recent article that said 2026 will be observed as the year of women in agriculture. Should not there be thinking about the agriculture sector? Balasubramaniam Pavani, Secunderabad Maximum Mumbai The tragic and unfortunate incident of passengers dying while travelling on a Mumbai local train shows that the Railways have miles to go in ensuring the safety of commuters. The overcrowding on these trains was a common sight especially during peak hours when I was a commuter between Thane and Mumbai CST in 1992. When we realise that not much has changed over three decades, it points to serious lapses in the planning, the development and the implementation of basic infrastructure, which is the lifeline of Mumbaikars. I have seen trains operating in Dubai and Japan, and I have travelled on the Dubai Metro for three years, from 2009. There are a few measures that the Railways and the Government can adopt to minimise such accidents. To flatten the peak in passenger volume, office hours can be staggered. The Railways can increase the frequency of local trains. Providing automatic sliding doors is also needed. More coaches and vestibules to connect them would be ideal. Jiji Panicker K. Chengannur, Kerala With over 80 lakh daily commuters, Mumbai's suburban train system is arguably one of the busiest. Yet, overcrowding, outdated infrastructure, and a lack of real-time monitoring are hurdles. The incident serves as a grim reminder of the urgent need to modernise Mumbai's railway system — not technologically alone, but also structurally and administratively. R. Sivakumar, Chennai
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New NCERT books ditch the poverty lens, but are we ditching empathy too?
No more 'povertarian narratives' -- that's how Sanjeev Sanyal, the Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council member, and now a core figure in NCERT textbook reform committee framed in 2023, introduced the new Class 7 Social Science books to the public earlier this on X (formerly Twitter), the author said, 'We have broken away from old poverty and gratefully colonised narrative.' The new textbooks, he claimed, are visually richer, less dated, and more focused on 'modern' examples in economics, and 'storytelling rather than dates' when it came to change, he noted, isn't just about the paper quality or coloured photos. It's in the content -- especially economics, the segment he oversees. Gone are the stories of partition-era refugee schools, fair-price shops, the practice of 'hoarding' goods, and women's self-help groups. They have now been replaced by discussions on net banking, UPI payments, Surat's textile trade routes, and the history of with this new approach to understanding India's economic scenario, a crucial question arises: what are students being taught to think about money, markets and the people who depend on them?WHAT CHANGED IN NCERT CLASS 7 ECONOMICS?advertisementTo understand this shift, let's compare how Class 7 economics is taught in the old NCERT books versus the new 2024 older Class 7 textbook (Social and Political Life – II) featured two key chapters on Economics:Markets Around UsA Shirt in the MarketThese chapters introduced young students to real, often harsh, economic realities. Readers met Swapna, a cotton farmer in Kurnool forced to sell her harvest at a low rate to a local trader who had loaned her money at a high interest. Swapna's story They followed her cotton through power looms in Erode and into export factories near Delhi, where women stitched shirts for Rs 1,500 a month -- only for the shirts to sell abroad for Rs 1,800 textbook didn't hold back. It asked students to write letters to ministers about wage justice. Exercise asks students to pen letter to minister It talked about putting-out systems, wage inequality, trader dominance, and even compared who gained and who didn't in a market enter the new Class 7 NCERT book (Exploring Society: India and Beyond). Under Theme E: Economic Life Around Us, the textbook has two new chapters:From Barter to MoneyUnderstanding MarketsInstead of following the journey of a shirt from farm to mall, the new textbook begins with the history of money. It dives into barter systems, the coinage of the Cholas and Chalukyas, and even explains UPI and digital wallets. UPI system explained There's a neat timeline of how we moved from cowries to currency notes to online banking. A nod is given to Assam's Junbeel Mela, where barter is still practiced. Coinage system explained The second chapter on markets opens with a look at the 16th-century Hampi Bazaar, followed by examples of Surat's textile industry, online shopping aggregators, and global talks about price discovery, wholesalers and retailers, and even how consumers shape market trends -- but with little reference to wage struggles or inequalities. People's stories in the old NCERT book Here's a snapshot of the contrast:ElementOld NCERT (2012)New NCERT (2024)ToneCritical, people-centricAnalytical, system-focusedExamplesCotton farmers, daily-wage women workersHampi, UPI, online marketplacesConceptsInequality, power imbalance, labour rightsTrade flow, value chain, digital economyActivitiesLetter to ministers, role play, reflection on fair wagesSupply chain tracing, price negotiations skitsPerspectiveGround-level, empathy-drivenTop-down, structured and historicalIn simpler words -- the old book made you feel for the people in the system. The new one makes you understand how the system 6 TEXTBOOKS: FROM FARMERS' DEBT TO FAMILY BUSINESSESThis shift isn't limited to Class 7. Class 6 economics, too, has been old Class 6 NCERT had two chapters titled:advertisementRural LivelihoodsUrban LivelihoodsThese featured stories from rural Tamil Nadu, where paddy field labourers struggled through seasonal work and mounting debts. There were accounts from fishing villages, daily wage earners, and discussions on migration, land ownership and access to government schemes. Stories of farmers' debt Urban livelihoods talked of cycle rickshaw pullers, domestic workers and roadside new Class 6 textbook, under 'Theme E: Economic Life Around Us', now has these chapters:The Value of WorkEconomic Activities Around UsThese chapters shift focus to defining and classifying economic and non-economic activities. The first chapter begins with Swami Vivekananda's quote on work as worship and introduces students to neighbours who run shops, work in the Air Force, volunteer at knitting collectives, or teach coding. advertisementThe next chapter begins with a quote from Kautilya's Arthashastra and introduces Amul's story in Gujarat -- with names like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Verghese Kurien explaining how dairy cooperatives were formed to help a textbook example of collective success -- without any mention of current farming struggles or agricultural distress. The Amul Cooperative story Meanwhile, the old book had a full section on farmers in debt, how they were stuck in cycles of borrowing, and how that shaped their ability to result -- fewer stories of hardship, more stories of side-by-side view:ElementOld NCERT (2012)New NCERT (2024)ToneGrounded, empathetic, people-focusedUplifting, structured, system-focusedExamplesPaddy field labourers, fisherfolk, seasonal migrants, cycle rickshaw pullersAir Force pilot, software engineer, dairy cooperative members, shop ownersConceptsLivelihood insecurity, debt cycles, government support, rural-urban divideEconomic vs non-economic activities, value addition, economic sectorsActivitiesCase-based discussions, reflection on migration and poverty, role playClassifying daily work, tracing value chains, identifying economic roles in familiesPerspectiveBottom-up: focused on struggles of the working poorTop-down: focused on how different roles fit into the economyThe new NCERT Class 8 textbooks are expected soon. While the English books were released on May 17, books for the other subjects are expected by the end of June, before schools reopen in FORWARD, NOT DOWN?The changes are deliberate. According to Sanyal, the older textbooks were 'designed' to highlight poverty and inequality. The new ones, he argues, show progress, cooperation, and a systems-based view of the some ways, that's true -- the new textbooks are more visual, integrated, and digitally aware. Students now learn about UPI before they hit their with full-colour pages, detailed illustrations, and clean layouts, the new books feel more like magazines than an old-school textbook. From flowcharts to story panels, the visual design invites students to actually pick them up and stay engaged. A full-page coloured illustration in the new Class 6 NCERT Social Science textbook However, in trying to escape 'gratefully colonised' narratives, we may also be airbrushing the present. Inequality hasn't gone anywhere. Farmers still die by suicide. Factory workers still earn Rs 3,000 a month. Shopkeepers still hoard goods, and people still struggle to access credit or fair textbooks, for all their flaws, asked students to think about justice. The new ones teach students to think about systems. One looked at people trying to survive the economy. The other looks at how the economy itself the real question isn't whether one version is better than the other -- but whether we're letting go of empathy too Watch
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