NCERT textbooks to cost less from 2025: Dharmendra Pradhan

NCERT textbooks for some classes will cost less from next year, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan announced on Tuesday.

The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), which currently prints five crore textbooks a year, is working to augment capacity to 15 crore from next year, he said.

The minister said the new textbooks, according to the updated curriculum for classes 9-12, would be available from the 2026-27 academic session.

"In the next academic year, NCERT will publish 15 crore quality and affordable books...Currently, it publishes nearly five crore textbooks. Earlier, there were concerns about demand and supply about the textbooks. However, that will be addressed now," Pradhan told reporters.

"Since the volume of printing of books is going to be high, the prices of textbooks for some classes will be reduced. However, the price will not be increased for any class to ensure there is no financial burden on parents," he added.

The minister said the process of updating textbooks, according to the new National Curriculum Framework (NCF), was under way.

"The process is on and textbooks for classes 9-12 will be ready by the 2026-27 academic session," he said.

"New textbooks have been made available for seven out of 15 grades, with textbooks coming out for four more grades in the next academic year. Textbooks for arts, physical education, and wellbeing (classes 3-8) and vocational education (classes 6-8) are being developed. Textbooks are being prepared in all scheduled Indian languages and made accessible via online platforms," the minister said.

Pradhan said the number of schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had more than doubled, rising from 14,974 in 2014 to 30,415 in 2024.

"Admissions, transfers and CBSE affiliation processes are now fully online. Kendriya Vidyalyas, Navodaya Vidyalayas and the CBSE are operating on 100 per cent e-office platforms. Schools offering vocational courses have risen from 960 in 2014 to 29,342 in 2024. Student enrolment in skill education has surged from 58,720 in 2014 to over 30.8 lakh in 2024," he said.