Karnataka has introduced the National Council of Educational Research & Training (NCERT) textbooks from class I in all State board schools in the State, with an aim to improve the quality education from the primary level.

The NCERT textbooks have been introduced for English and Maths from class I to V. The NCERT English and Hindi books have been prescribed for classes VI and VII. The textbooks are already being used for science, maths and a few other subjects for classes VIII to X.

Already used in high school

Speaking to The Hindu, Vikas Kishor Suralkar, Commissioner for School Education, said that while the NCERT books were already used in high school for mathematics and science, now they would be introduced from class I in all State curriculum schools, including government, aided and private schools across the State.

The NCERT textbooks are used in all the schools with Central curriculum and are more updated compared to the State curriculum books. This is one of the reasons cited for students of CBSE and ICSE schools doing better in CET, NEET, JEE and other competitive examinations. In addition, the NCERT syllabus-based questions are asked in civil services, banking, railway and other recruitment examinations. The new textbooks are also expected to help in the bilingual classes that are set to start in 25,014 schools across 15 districts for students of classes I to V.

Teachers and private school managements have welcomed the government’s decision.

No more private books

“It is also mandatory for State board private schools to purchase books from Karnataka Text Book Society (KTBS). But the content in English, mathematics, and science was not that effective. So we used to have private textbooks also. Now that we have the NCERT books, we need not purchase any private text books,” said the head master of a private school in Bengaluru.

However, government school teachers said that they need to be trained to teach these new textbooks.

“The Department of State Educational Research and Training (DSERT) has provided only eight days of training to some teachers to teach the new books. But compared to State curriculum books, the NCERT textbooks are different, and this requires a high-level of training. Therefore, the School Education Department should provide more training,” said a government school teacher.

Mr. Suralkar said the first stage of training has already been completed for many teachers. “Steps have been taken to provide training to other teachers by the DSERT in a phased manner,” he added.