All Central Board of Secondary Education or CBSE affiliated schools must use the textbooks of NCERT or National Council for Education Research and Training from the next academic session i.e. 2017-18. CBSE has taken this decision in a meeting with HRD Ministry chaired by Hon'ble, Union HRD Minister, Prakash Javadekar. The decision taken by CBSE will make the study materials for schools in India very standard and up to the mark.

One of the officials of CBSE said that,

The schools affiliated to CBSE have to place their demand for NCERT books from March 15 to 22, 2017. The schools can place orders for NCERT books as per requirement through the official website. The schools must log in with valid credentials like Login ID and Password to place the order.

CBSE has also made necessary arrangements to distribute the books through its 680 impaneled distribution vendors. On the other hand, it is mandatory for the schools to place orders class wise but not section wise. CBSE has taken the initiative to implement NCERT textbooks as parents complained that they are forced by private schools to buy books from private publishers which are costlier than NCERT textbooks. Therefore, it is a good decision taken by the board while considering the requests made by the parents.

"Many schools have book kiosks on their premises. As well as selling exorbitantly priced textbooks from private publishers, these shops sell 'bundle packs' that include pencils, erasers, and other stationery, which would cost a lot less for parents in the open market. We have also noticed that private publishers are sponsoring several school heads on junkets to countries like Switzerland," a senior HRD official said.

Interestingly, NCERT also announced that the textbooks would be available online only and the parents can also take the printout of textbooks which will cost them less than the market price.

"We now know the number of students a school has class-wise, rather than section-wise. As schools raise their demand online, we will know whether they are requisitioning for adequate number of books. The numbers may vary, as March is also a month of admissions. But the schools are expected to factor this in their purchases. CBSE will also monitor the annual subscription by schools," the official said.