CBSE mandates NCERT textbooks for Classes 9-12 in revised guidelines

NEW DELHI: In a revision of the guidelines on use of textbooks by schools, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has mandated the use of National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) books for Classes 9 to 12. It has also strongly advised schools to follow the NCERT or SCERT books for Classes 1 to 8.

The amendments made by the board in the affiliation bye-laws limit the use of books by private publishers and emphasize heavily on the CBSE-prescribed books. Besides textbooks, schools can use supplementary materials and digital content given that they are aligned with the National Curriculum Framework - School Education (NCF-SE), as per the new guidelines.

“Schools shall mandatorily follow the NCERT textbooks prescribed in CBSE curriculum. For subjects in which NCERT/ SCERT books are not available, CBSE books uploaded on the website must be followed. Schools can use supplementary material as per their requirement. Use of Digital Content can also be explored to augment the textbooks. The supplementary material and Digital Content used by the school must invariably be aligned with NCF-SE,” said the proposed amended rule in an official CBSE notification.

The supplementary materials, the board directed, must aim to contain the essential core material including discussion analysis, examples, and applications.

Private book publishers

About the use private publishers, CBSE rules dictated, “Extreme care should be taken while using supplementary material, digital content as well as books of private publishers, if so used, so that there is no objectionable content that hurts the feeling of any class, community, gender or any religious group in society.”

Moreover, the schools will continue to put a list of prescribed books for all the classes on their website with the written declaration signed by the manager and the principal saying that they have gone through the contents of the books prescribed by the school and own the responsibility. CBSE warned that if a school is found prescribing a book having any objectionable content, it will be found responsible for such content and action will be initiated against it by the board.