NCERT Delay Blamed for Missing Math Book in Class

NCERT criticized for delays in providing Class VI math textbooks, affecting students' studies. Despite online access, hard copies remain unavailable in many states.

on Sep 04, 2024

There has been criticism against the NCERT on grounds of not having hard copies of the new mathematics textbook, Class VI, implying thereby its absence from bookstores in several states. The unavailability of the textbook has badly affected the studies of the children who have already passed four months of the academic session. According to sources, both the empanelled vendors of the NCERT and private bookstores in several states have yet to get the English version of Ganita Prakash, the mathematics textbook. Some vendors also said they were still awaiting the English versions of science and social sciences books.

The NCERT has introduced new books this year in Classes III and VI, which are followed by nearly 30,000 schools of the country affiliated to the CBSE. However, in textbooks of social sciences and mathematics for Class VI, the NCERT published its style books in languages along with English versions. In science, most of the books are written in English, and only some are written in Hindi. All the books, in general, are done without any copy in Urdu. For Class III, the mathematics book has been published in three languages, and the book "Our Wondrous World" is in English and Hindi.

Presently, students of Class VI are using only the old textbook because the new mathematics textbook is unavailable. However, the questions for half-yearly examinations may be from the new book.

The situation differs in different parts of the country. For instance, an empanelled NCERT vendor in Udaipur in Rajasthan reported all the books meant for Class III available and for Class VI, the Hindi, English, and Sanskrit textbooks were available while the other books were expected to be turned in within a week's time. Similar is the case in Cuttack, Odisha, all books meant for Class-III were available and most of the books for Class-VI, the only exception being mathematics.

In several shops in Delhi, too, the new mathematics book is not available. Although the NCERT has uploaded the book on the website, several schools, children, and parents actually are not pleased by that and prefer hard copies. Online access to content is problematic for many, as hard copies are accessible.

The NCERT mathematics textbook for Class VI was out in the third week of August. This has happened four months after the session started while other books were released by July. Sources said that the members of a committee responsible for writing the book had delayed the submission of the draft.

He also criticized the NCERT for delaying the publication of books. He said children learn more by using hardcopies of textbooks and online content would be inconvenient. Babu expressed concerns that private publishers will gain from the delay in the publication of NCERT books since, according to him, in about three weeks, if NCERT books are not made available on the market, then schools will put pressure by asking to prescribe books from private publishers.