New Delhi
As the 2026-27 academic session begins, parents of CBSE-affiliated private schools have raised concerns over the cost of textbooks for classes 1 to 8, alleging that they are forced to buy expensive book sets from private publishers, often through authorized vendors and changed annually.
While NCERT kit for classes 1 to 8 costs approx $200- $700 Depending on the class, special publisher packs for the same levels can range between $3000 and $10,000, often including workbooks, additional readers and stationery.
This comes amid a regulatory gap as CBSE mandates NCERT prescribed textbooks for classes 9 to 12, and “strongly” advises their use in classes 1 to 8.
Although CBSE officials did not respond to HT’s queries, educationist MK Sridhar who drafted the NEP 2020 said private schools are allowed to use textbooks of different publishers up to Class VIII to “avoid standardization and encourage creativity and innovation in textbooks”.
Parents say they have no choice but to comply with set listings, which are often tied to specific vendors and bulk purchases. Aditya Kaushik, whose daughter is in first grade at a private school in Karnal, Haryana, said he was dead $3500 on book set. “Schools limit purchases to a few approved vendors,” he claimed.
Shyam Mishra, a parent in Ghaziabad in UP, said he spent $8000 on textbooks for his son in class 7th $10,000 for his daughter in 8th grade in the same school. “It would have cost approx $“3,000 if the school uses only NCERT textbooks,” he said. Former CBSE chairman Ashok Ganguly said making NCERT textbooks mandatory for all classes may not be possible given the size and diversity of the system. “It is not possible or feasible for a single organization to ensure timely availability of books across the country,” he said, adding that flexibility was needed to avoid disruption of academic sessions.
