CBSE mandates use of NCERT books, but publishers demand even playing field

CBSE warns schools not to allow students to buy textbooks produced by private publishers

A debate is raging over a government decision to make NCERT books mandatory in schools.

Schools have been warned by the CBSE not to allow students to buy textbooks produced by private publishers.

Giving his point of view on the issue, Dr Dheeraj Mehrotra, an academic, said, "The learning today has become smart with the inception of knowledge available at the click of a button and the touch of the screen, forcing students on this vocabulary to harness their knowledge with a limited edition of text would be a punishment."

He added, "Freedom is the hallmark of democracy and we are the biggest democracy of the world. So, why limit our self and stick to mandates and restrict the education system of our country. MHRD by anointing NCERT would not only monopolise the textbook preparation but shall also jeopardise the innovation and creativity in the making of textbooks."

R K Gupta, General Secretary of Federation of Educational Publishers in India (FEPI) said, "Today, we need multiple sources for a sound knowledge with curation of knowledge blend for the new generation. Hence, it is mandatory both for the teachers and the students to expand their knowledge via multiple books."

Private publishers say that they provide a lot of the additional materials free of cost alongside the textbooks for schools that include teacher training, e-learning material (animations for helping the student to understand the concepts), worksheets, lesson plans, online support, and teachers' resource books while on the other side NCERT books, by their own admission, are not updated since 2007 whereas private publishers' are regularly updated.

The decision to make NCERT books mandatory may prove as harmful as decision to implement CCE or removing Board Exams for 10thStandard and as it concerns the career dimensions for the coming generation.

The aim is to create a better education system for the students of the country but is this implementation a boom or a curse for the future of our nation that still remains a debatable question.