The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has recently directed all it affiliated schools to sell only NCERT textbooks in ‘Tuck Shops’ inside the school premises.

The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has recently asked all its affiliated schools to sell only National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) books.

Moreover, the board said that ‘Tuck Shops’ inside the school premises will not be able to sell books by private publishers.

Also, on the issue of selling stationary items, the board said that the ‘Tuck Shops’ will be able to sell items such as pens, pencils, copies among others, but the prices should not be more than the MRP.

Use only NCERT books:

Last year, schools affiliated to CBSE were asked by the board to use only NCERT books for all the classes
This step has been taken after it received reports and complaints from parents that schools were pressurizing them to buy huge number of textbooks published by others.

According to TOI reports, the board feels that the NCERT books are sufficient enough as the material forms the base for not only board exams but for competitive exam like JEE. Therefore, schools need not look beyond it

What are the views of the schools?

On the other hand, school authorities have been defending the use of other publications
Ajit Prasad Jain, Senior Principal, Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram, said that as the nearest NCERT godown/sale counter is based in Bengaluru, they have to wait for almost six months to procure books and so it is better to buy other textbooks that don’t veer away from the prescribed CBSE syllabus

NCERT to take sole responsibility of publishing school textbooks:
From the year 2018, the school textbooks will be published only by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), while the CBSE’s role will be restricted to its original mandate of holding examinations and affiliation.