NCERT says Class 9 Maths syllabus retains topics, adds algorithms to build AI understanding

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has issued a clarification that the Class 9 Mathematics curriculum cannot be reviewed only by counting the number of chapters in the textbook. 

A recent press release issued by NCERT said that the curriculum under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 is based on what students should learn, develop and achieve

The press note reads, “The “draft” NCERT syllabus released earlier was just that - a draft syllabus - meant as an initial proposal for feedback from teachers, students, and authors/educators. Based on this feedback, the draft syllabus will be finalised and released in October by NCERT/CBSE.” 

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NCERT explains changes

According to NCERT, some topics that would be included as separate chapters have instead been clubbed within other chapters. The official statement mentions, “To address the specific concerns mentioned about the Class 9 mathematics draft syllabus: in fact, no overall topics were dropped from the draft syllabus, but some topics were incorporated into various other chapters instead of becoming standalone chapters.”

The council said this approach follows the competency-based approach under NCF-SE 2023. The new syllabus will be all about learning outcomes and setting clear learning targets for students at each level.

NCERT said new textbooks have been designed in such a way that they can support the goals and the skills that students should develop and be able to use. Meanwhile, the division of content into chapters will only reorganise everything.

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Algorithms added to boost mathematical understanding of AI

NCERT also explained that the algorithms can be included in the Class 9 Mathematics curriculum. It said students need to have a basic understanding of algorithms, data structures and how efficiently artificial intelligence (AI) can perform tasks

The council said Mathematics plays an important role in AI and that the NEP's focus on computational thinking will help students learn why Mathematics is important for AI. A separate module on AI is also being developed, it said.

NCERT has asked the schools, teachers and boards to plan teaching and assessment around these competencies so that they do not have to rely only on textbook chapter headings to understand what the curriculum is covering.