No shortage of NCERT textbooks, over 4 crore books distributed for 2022-23 academic session

New Delhi: There is no shortage of NCERT textbooks and over four crore textbooks have already been distributed across the country for the 2022-23 academic session, the Lok Sabha was informed on Monday.

The information was shared by Union Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi in response to a written question.

"The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has informed that there is no reported shortage of textbooks in the country.

"They have informed that 4.25 crore textbooks for the academic Session 2022-23 have already been distributed through 950 empanelled vendors all over the nation," the minister said.

"Besides, NCERT textbooks are also distributed through its sales counters located at NCERT Headquarter, its Regional Institutes of Education (RIEs) at Ajmer, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Mysuru and Shillong and its regional centers at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata and Guwahati.

"Online orders for procurement of NCERT textbooks can also be placed through NCERT web portal," she said.

The minister said the online ordered textbooks are supplied at the doorstep of the customer with the help of Indian Postal Services.

"All the NCERT textbooks are also made available for free download in PDF form through its digital platforms such as E-Pathshala, E-Pub, etc to facilitate the students across the country," she added.

The NCERT took a step towards rationalisation of school textbooks to facilitate speedy recovery in students learning continuum and compensate for time loss due to prolonged school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic, Union Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi said on Monday.

Devi made the statement in response to a written question in the Lok Sabha.

"During the COVID-19 pandemic situation, students across the stages of school education have struggled a lot to continue their learning through online and other modes. Also, concerns related to curriculum load including the content load spread over syllabi and textbooks have been raised from different corners," she said.

"Further, National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 states that the reduction in content and increased flexibility of school curriculum and the renewed emphasis on constructive rather than rote learning must be accompanied by parallel changes in school textbooks. With a view to facilitate speedy recovery in students learning continuum and compensating time loss, NCERT took a step towards the rationalisation of textbooks across the stages and subject areas," Devi added.

"Overlapping with similar content included in other subject area in the same class; similar content included in the lower or higher class in same subject ; difficulty level; content, which is easily accessible to children and does not require much intervention from the teachers and can be learned through self-learning or peer learning; content, which is not relevant in the present context or outdated and taking care of the learning outcomes already developed across the classes, are among the criteria adopted for rationalisation of the content load," the minister said.