Schools prefer pvt publishers to NCERT
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, April 1
With new admissions starting in schools, parents of students are being forced to buy books from private publishers instead of better-quality and low-priced NCERT books.
Private schools, especially those affiliated to the Central Board of School Education (CBSE), are not using NCERT books. Schools are forcing books of local publishers on students, which are being sold at much higher prices than NCERT books.
Naresh Kumar, a parent from Kangra, said the books being prescribed by private schools were full of errors and the study programme in these books was inconsistent with school syllabus.
He said some words and sentences used in the Class II English book recommended by a private school in Kangra district were beyond the comprehension of students, who were at a nascent stage of learning.
He said NCERT books were well written and consistent with curriculum prescribed by the CBSE. Private schools should be forced by the state government and the CBSE to allow only NCERT books, he said.
Mukesh, another parent, said while a mathematics book of the NCERT for Class V cost just Rs 30, the book published by a private publisher from Delhi cost Rs 300.
Private schools were hobnobbing with private publishers and deliberately recommending books other than those of the NCERT to students, he said.
When contacted, Rajesh Thakur, a private bookseller, said they generally did not procure NCERT books as those were not recommended by private school managements.
He said NCERT books were generally not available. The government allowed 15 per cent margin to retailers in NCERT books, but wholesalers given the right to sell NCERT books did not pass this margin to retailers.
Retailers got about 5 per cent profit margin from NCERT books and so, they preferred selling books of private publishers who offered much higher margins.
Sources said the practice of private schools recommending books of private publishers was prevalent till Class VIII in CBSE-affiliated schools. Till Class VIII, the Education Department controlled and gave approval to schools following CBSE curriculum.
In Class XI and beyond, the CBSE granted approvals to schools. In these classes, generally NCERT books were adopted by schools.
Some schools were recommending particular notebooks and workbooks to students that were being sold at exorbitant rates allegedly due to the nexus between school authorities and private publishers.
Deepak Kanayat, Deputy Director, Elementary Education, Kangra, said till Class VIII, the Education Department controlled schools affiliated to the CBSE.
He said it had come to the notice of the department that private schools were recommending books of private publishers to students instead of NCERT books.
They would write to private schools to recommend NCERT books instead of books of private publishers so that parents were not fleeced and students got quality books, he said. Nothing concrete seemed to have been done in the matter.
