NCERT Responds To 'The Hindu' News Over NCERT Textbooks Revision And Shortages Of Textbooks
NCERT responded to a news item published in The Hindu the textbook revisions and the confusion surrounding it. Clearing the Air, about the change in textbooks cited under ‘The Hindu’ news item dated July 9, 2024, entitled “Confusion over revised NCERT textbooks for classes VI, IX and XI leave teachers in a tizzy”, the education body took to the Social Media handle ‘X’.
The Hindu News reads, “Confusion prevails in Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) schools in the State as teachers are unsure of the availability of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks for Classes VI, IX, and XI. Teachers have sent digital copies of the books to parents and asked them to take printouts”. It further added that there are reported that the textbooks for Class VI would take another two months. Only the e-textbooks for English and Hindi have been released so far.
Refuting the report, NCERT said that all grade 6 textbooks will be available within July 2024 and the 2-month dateline mentioned in The Hindu article is incorrect. The agency said that to provide adequate time to teachers and students for hands-on experiences under experiential learning perspectives and to facilitate the transition for both teachers and students from the old to the new curriculum, NCERT has ensured a month-long bridge program in all the 10 subject areas for Grade 6, which is being used for teaching at present.
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Additionally, the news article said that the textbooks of various classes from 9 to 12 and subjects including English, geography, computer science, chemistry, and history have not been published. The parents are very agitated over the unavailability of the study material, the report said.
The news also reported that textbooks for Classes 9 and 11 are supposed to be developed by the Ministry of Education and hence teachers had decided to wait, while some teachers opted to follow the earlier syllabus. In response to this CBSE has also clarified that the syllabus for class 3 and class 6 will be changed and textbooks and curriculum for the rest of the classes will remain same.
“Most schools in Tamil Nadu use private publishers for Class VI and use NCERT textbooks from Class IX onwards. It was not communicated properly by the CBSE whether only Classes III and VI would receive revised textbooks or Classes IX and XI would also be included. We had printed over 5,000 copies of a unit in English for students,” a teacher from a private school said, and “the miscommunication has cost many schools much, as they have missed placing textbook orders earlier.” the Hindu report added.
In response to this NCERT said “CBSE vide its circular dated 22nd March 2024 has very clearly informed all CBSE affiliated schools that there will be no change in the Curriculum and textbooks for other classes except III and VI. Hence the contention that CBSE has not communicated properly to its affiliated schools, is incorrect”
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The National Council further said that RPDC Bangalore caters to all South Indian States including Tamil Nadu. It asserted that “the Title-wise demand of Class 9 and 11 textbooks that were received from RPDC Bangalore has been met by NCERT Publication division and no shortage has been reported by RPDC Bangalore.”
