Education Ministry Directs NCERT To Regularly Update Textbooks; Emphasises Adaptability

New Delhi, Apr 29 (PTI): The Ministry of Education (MoE) has asked the NCERT to conduct a review of its textbooks and update them on yearly basis, according to sources.

So far, there has been no mandate on the frequency of updating NCERT textbooks. However, the National Council of Educational Research and Training has been occasionally revising and updating content since 2017.

A rationalisation exercise was also conducted in view of the closure of schools due to the pandemic but there were allegations from a section of agenda-driven editing.

"In the fast-changing world of today, it is important that the textbooks are absolutely updated. The NCERT has been asked to conduct a review on a yearly basis and update them ahead of the beginning of the new academic session... they are soon going to put a system in place," a source said.

"NCERT books once published should not remain the same for many years. They should be reviewed every year before printing and if any changes have to be made or some new facts have to be added, they should be included in the books. For instance, topics like Artificial Intelligence are very evolving," the source added.

Currently, the NCERT is in the process of developing textbooks according to the New Curriculum Framework (NCF) announced last year.

"The textbooks as per the new curriculum will be ready for all classes by 2026... it will take at least two years for all textbooks to be released for all classes in line with the new NCF," the source added.

This year, the NCERT has introduced new textbooks for classes 3 and 6.