Govt Tells CBSE to follow Madras High Court Order, Make NCERT Textbooks Mandatory

Govt Tells CBSE to follow Madras High Court Order, Make NCERT Textbooks Mandatory
on Aug 27, 2019

New Delhi: The HRD ministry has told the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to follow the Madras High Court order mandating only NCERT textbooks for affiliated schools, a senior ministry official has told News18.com. The new affiliation bylaws of the CBSE do not make it mandatory for schools affiliated to the board to prescribe textbooks published by the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT). The CBSE’s stand is not in line with the Madras High Court order issued on May 29 this year. The High Court directed CBSE-affiliated schools to only have NCERT books for its students. The court passed the order on a petition filed by M Purushothaman to make sure that a direction is given to the CBSE for the same. Justice N Kirubakaran directed the board to strictly follow the syllabus and books provided by the council alone for other classes. The order from the High Court said, “This court has every reason to believe that there is a hidden agenda between CBSE officials and private book publishers. That’s the reason why even a direction to use the NCERT books alone is being appealed by the CBSE. The CBSE is bound to follow the NCERT syllabus, which has been prescribed by experts.” The CBSE filed a counter appeal against the direction to prescribe only NCERT books and not any other books published by private publishers. More than 18,000 schools are affiliated to the CBSE. “The HRD ministry has told the CBSE to stick to the Madras High Court order and make the NCERT textbook mandatory. This has been communicated to the board. NCERT is publishing books in bulk and they have an excellent online system,” a ministry official told News18.com. When contacted, the CBSE said it has not received any direction from the ministry.