The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)

Schools can’t force textbooks other than those prescribed by NCERT, SCERT: DOE

THE DELHI government's education department has directed the heads of all recognised private schools that they cannot force children of elementary classes to use textbooks other than those prescribed by NCERT and SCERT.

The Delhi government’s directive came in a circular to ensure the i mplementat­ion of Section 29 of the Right to Education Act, 20 09, which mandates the curriculum and evaluation procedures for elementary education be l aid down by an academic authority specified by the government.

The Directorat­e of Education ( DOE) said no child should be discrimina­ted against, harassed, or neglected based on carrying book s publishe d by t he National or State Council of Educationa­l Research and Trai ning, and s ai d causing “mental or physical suffering” would attract the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.

“Many schools have their publicatio­ns till Class 8 and are charging high prices. But, we have made sure to follow NCERT for all classes in our school,” said Sudha Acharya, principal of ITL Public School, Dwarka. She said that while it had been intimated previously, few schools continued to not follow it.

Calling the directions “unworkable”, Ashok Agarwal, National President of All India Parents’ Associatio­n, said: “In such matters, authoritie­s cannot control private schools as the schools can easily convince parents to have private publicatio­ns books in addition to NCERT prescribed books.” He further blamed the government for “lack of credibilit­y” as he alleged, “The government is responsibl­e for creating the present exploitati­ve situation.”

Meanwhile, Tania Joshi, principal of The Indian School on Josip Broz Tito Marg, called the practice followed by the school as a “winwin situation”. She explained, “We purely follow the NCERT textbooks. For our teachers, we have different publishers’ textbooks to make worksheets because with this, teachers’ resources remain unlimited.”

The circular also stated that schools must display the directions on their website and notice board, and should also be shared with parents for informatio­n.