NCERT Textbooks to be Cheaper from 2025 -Dharmendra Pradhan

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday announced that the prices of NCERT textbooks for a few classes will be reduced from next year. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), which is printing 5 crore textbooks every year, is making all efforts to raise the production capacity to 15 crore books from 2025.

According to the minister, the underlying reason for the decision was the ongoing problem of textbooks that were not in adequate quantities or affordable to students. The council has been blamed on several occasions for at times running short on the supply of textbooks, and the distribution became delayed. For this reason, the council will step up the production so that the textbooks can reach the students without any delay. “In the next academic year, NCERT will publish 15 crore textbooks, from the present 5 crore. This increase in production will meet the persistent demand and supply problems,” Pradhan said.

The advantage of this increased production will be seen as the cost of textbooks of certain classes is reduced due to this enhanced production. But the government has assured all classes that no one from the particular class will be forced to pay for this one, so it will save a lot for the parents of these children. Hence, it is one step forward making education easy and inexpensive for students in particular who are economically weaker backgrounds. This is in line with the efforts of the government, which tries to reduce this financial burden on families in this sector.

Besides these decreases in prices and mass production, the minister mentioned other modifications made in the textbook with new updates from the National Curriculum Framework. The new texts under the revised curriculum for classes 9 to 12 are likely to hit the markets in time for the academic session in the years 2026-27. These revised curricula shall prepare students to think analytically, develop necessary skills, and apply learned principles and theories in real-world environments that will equip them better for the future.

In turn, government efforts at putting together affordable textbooks and a new curriculum are integral parts of broader educational reforms intended at improving the quality of education in India. Increased production capacity, low prices for the booklets, and the changed curricula are steps in that direction towards making education more inclusive, accessible, and relevant to learners’ needs today.

Source- PTI