CBSE Requires NCERT Textbooks for Schools: New Guidelines to Take Effect Immediately

A few changes have been made to Chapter 2, clause 2.4.7 by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in accordance with Bye-Law 2018. The purpose of the modification is to administer a unified education system and guard against any potentially offensive content. The mandatory usage of NCERT textbooks in Indian classrooms is taken into consideration when making changes. The modification became effective on August 12, 2024.

The official notification reads, “The following amendments have been made in chapter 2, clause 2 4. 7 of the Affiliation Bye-Laws 2018, in respect of the rule position on the provisions for use of the textbooks by schools and will come into force from the date of issue of this notification.”

Rule position as per present affiliation Bye-Laws 2018
Chapter-2 (2.4.7)

• The School may prescribe NCERT textbooks in the classes and subjects in which these have been published by the NCERT. Extreme care should be taken in the selection of books from private publishers so that there Is no objectionable content that hurts the feelings of any class, community, gender or religious group in society.
• The school shall put a list of prescribed books on its website with the written declaration duly signed by the Manager and the Principal to the effect that they have gone through the contents of the books prescribed by the school and own the responsibility. If a school Is found prescribing a book having any objectionable content, the responsibility for such content shall lie with the school and action will be initiated against the School by the Board.

Proposed Amended Rule (2.4.7)
Classes I to VIII

• Schools are strongly advised to follow NCERT/ SCERT textbooks. Schools may use supplementary material as per their requirement which must be aligned with the NCF-FS and NCF-SE. Such chosen supplementary material must aim to contain the essential core material (together with discussion, analysis, examples, and applications).

Classes IX to XII

• Schools shall mandatorily follow the NCERT textbooks prescribed in the 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. The 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.
• 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 feelings of any class, community, gender or any religious group in society.

(2.4.7.1)

• Schools shall put a list of prescribed books for all the classes on their website with the written declaration duly signed by the manager and the principal to the effect that they have gone through the contents of the books prescribed by the school and own the responsibility. If a school is found prescribing a book having any objectionable content, the responsibility for such content shall lie with the school and action will be initiated against the school by the board.

Safeguarding Content Sensitivity

• One of the main motives for introducing the new guidelines is to ensure content sensitivity. For all the materials such as supplementary materials, digital content, or books from private publishers, schools are required to exercise caution while selecting them in order to avoid any content offensive to any class, community, gender, or religious group.

Accountability and Transparency

• To ensure accountability in the system, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) ordered the affiliated schools to publically disclose the list of prescribed books in all classes at their official websites. The list must be signed by both the manager and principal too confirming that they have deeply reviewed all the content inside the prescribed books and are taking full responsibility for the textbooks. In case, any school is found with using objectional or offensive content in school, the whole responsibility will fall on itself and will bear the possible consequences for that.