Mandatory NCERT textbooks in Meghalaya poses concern for some schools

Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma said that it will be mandatory for all schools to use textbooks prescribed by MBoSE

Reported by Purbasha Bhattacharjee

Amidst the crucial decision of the Meghalaya government to enhance the education system in the state by adopting the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks for classes I to X in the Meghalaya Board of School Education (MBoSE) course, the Catholic Schools Association (CSA) has claimed that the move is posing a serious concern for all the Catholic schools in the state.

In a letter to the State government, CSA stated that the government’s order to follow the prescribed NCERT textbooks from classes I to X has created a serious concern for all the Catholic schools in the state and that it would not be able to follow the same.

“In the past many years, the books for the Lower and Upper Primary schools had been taken care by the Dioceses or by the Schools. Most of our schools have ordered the books from the middle of the academic year 2023 and some have already delivered the books to the students from December 2023. May we inform you that we had a discussion with the Secretaries of the four Dioceses and the heads of Schools in Shillong, and we decided that we will not be able to follow the MBOSE text from Class I to Class VIII,” CSA’s letter read.

Reacting to this letter, Education Minister Rakkam A Sangma said that it will be mandatory for all schools to use textbooks prescribed by MBoSE.

He informed that the government is still studying the pros and cons, the merits and demerits of a petition received from the CSA requesting to allow them to continue using their own textbooks.

He mentioned that the schools who have already ordered textbooks will be allowed only this year to continue using their own textbooks because from the next academic session of 2025, the State gvernment will make it mandatory (for all schools to use MBoSE prescribed textbooks).

The Minister said that with regards to the petition from the CSA, the government is open for any kind of discussion. The government will set up a committee to study all these so that every book will be studied, will be scrutinized by the experts and then will decide accordingly.

The State government had recently released the NCERT textbooks for MBoSE at the Teachers Initiation Conclave held in Tura.

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