The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has defaulted on its own timeline for making new textbooks available for children of four classes, leaving schools confused.

The NCERT had announced that new textbooks would be introduced for children of Classes IV, V, VII and VIII from the academic year 2025-26. The textbook body had also started preparations to write the books a year ago. However, it has failed to complete the books on time, leaving parents worried.

The agency had delayed the publication of new textbooks for Classes III and VI last year too. Class VI mathematics and social science textbooks were available in August for theacademic session that started in April.

This year too, all schools started the new academic session last week, but the NCERT has so far released only Hindi and English textbooks for Class IV and the English textbook for Class VII. The Hindi textbook for Class VII is yet to come. These new books have not been uploaded on the NCERT website yet.

No other new textbook is available for Classes IV, V, VII and VIII. For Classes V and VIII, the NCERT has prepared bridge courses for all subjects which have been uploaded on its website.

The CBSE, which follows the NCERT syllabus and textbooks without any change, had issued a circular on March 26 stating the timeline for the availability of textbooks as set by the NCERT. According to the circular, Class IV textbooks for all subjects other than the languages are supposed to be available by April 10, while science and mathematics books for Class VII will be available by April 10 and April 20, respectively. Sources said these books were unlikely to come on time.

All books for Class V would come by June 15 and the books for Class VIII would be available by June 20, said the circular.

The NCERT has prepared bridge courses for children of Classes V and VIII forthe smooth transition of students from the old to thenew curriculum.

A parent of a Class VII child enrolled in a private school in Delhi said the school was continuing with the old textbooks.

“Our school is teaching the old NCERT books. The issue is that if the syllabus is different, the children will face difficulty. With limited time, how can they complete the new syllabus?” he asked.

An email has been sent to the NCERT director, Prof. Dinesh Prasad Saklani, for his reaction on the issue. His comments are awaited.