Yogi Adityanath makes NCERT books must in UP board

ALLAHABAD: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has made National Council of Educational Research and Training ( NCERT) books mandatory for all schools affiliated to the Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UP Board) from academic session 2018-19.

The decision will impact more than 35 lakh students and comes in the wake of the Central Board of Secondary Education's ( CBSE) move to make NCERT textbooks compulsory for all schools affiliated to it from this academic year itself.

“It is a bid to bring UP Board academic activities on a par with the CBSE. However, the task of providing textbooks to lakhs of students would be quite daunting. At present, over 35 lakh students study in around 23,900 government, aided and unaided schools affiliated with the UP Board,“ senior UP Board officials told TOI.

They said NCERT books would be made compulsory from Class IX to Class XII.Currently , an empanelled group of publishers publishes books for these classes.

“The board has decided to standardise the course curriculum by switching over to NCERT books,“ said UP Board deputy secretary Anil Kumar.“The decision in this regard was taken recently .“

The UP Board has also made several incorporations in its syllabus. Many topics such as GST and its implications have been introduced. The board instructed district inspectors of schools (DIoS) to inform all principals of schools under their jurisdiction about the changes in the syllabus.