2 weeks ago
Parliamentary Panel Flags Textbook Delays, Exam Stress Among Students
In India, there is a group of people in Parliament called a committee that checks how schools and exams are working.
They wrote a new report about what is going well and what is not.
The committee found that new textbooks for students in classes 9 to 12 are not ready yet.
Schools are teaching new lessons, but students still use older books, which confuses them.
Exams now ask questions that test thinking instead of memorising, and this stresses students in classes 10 and 12.
The committee also noticed that far fewer teachers are getting online training than before.
They said exam fees are hard for some poor families to pay, so they want fee waivers for those students.
The government is also not spending as much money on education as it planned.
The committee wants the government to print the new books quickly, train teachers, and spend more money on schools.
The Committee on Estimates of the Eighteenth Lok Sabha flagged a significant gap between curriculum design and implementation for Classes 9 to 12 in its Tenth Report (2026-27), presented to Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
The non-availability of new NCERT textbooks and newer, application-based Board examination patterns are creating significant academic stress and confusion, especially for Class 10 and 12 students.
Online teacher training under CBSE dropped drastically from over 5.3 million teachers in 2022 to around 162,814 in 2025, though CBSE trained over 11 million participants in five years.
The committee recommended targeted fee waivers for economically weaker sections, noting CBSE charges Rs 1,600 per candidate for five subjects and offers no financial concessions for socio-economically disadvantaged students.
Combined Centre and state education spending stands at 4.1 per cent of GDP against the NEP 2020 target of 6 per cent, with a mandatory annual baseline increase of 10 per cent recommended.
- Who
- The Committee on Estimates of the Eighteenth Lok Sabha, reviewing the roles of CBSE, NCERT and the Ministry of Education
- What
- A report flagging a curriculum implementation gap for Classes 9-12, new textbook shortages, application-based exam stress, declining teacher training and education funding shortfalls
- Where
- India
- When
- Presented to Lok Sabha on Wednesday as the Tenth Report (2026-27), citing data from 2022 to 2025 and the Union Budget 2026-27
- Why
- To resolve the curriculum transition gap that is creating academic stress and to improve affordable, quality education
Key facts
- Report
- Tenth Report (Eighteenth Lok Sabha) of the Committee on Estimates (2026-27) on 'Budget and Policy Aspects for Providing Affordable and Quality Education in the Country including Review of CBSE'
- Textbook issue
- NCERT still rolling out new textbooks for Classes 9 to 12; schools teach an updated, high-order curriculum with older study materials
- Teacher training
- Minimum 50 hours per year for all teachers and principals; online training dropped from over 5.3 million teachers (2022) to about 162,814 (2025)
- CBSE exam fee
- Rs 1,600 per candidate for five subjects; no financial concessions for socio-economically disadvantaged students, though visually impaired candidates are exempted
- Class 10 registrations
- 22,51,812 (2024); 23,85,079 (2025)
- Class 12 registrations
- 16,33,730 (2024); 17,04,367 (2025)
- Education spending
- Combined Centre-state spending at 4.1 per cent of GDP versus the NEP 2020 target of 6 per cent
- Union Budget 2026-27
- Rs 1,39,286 crore allocated to the Ministry of Education, an 8.27 per cent increase over the previous year
Quotes
Committee on Estimates
Parliamentary committee reviewing education policy
“"The non-availability of textbooks and newer, application-based Board examination patterns are creating significant academic stress and confusion for students especially for the students appearing for the Class 10 and 12 examinations."”
deccanchronicle.com
NDTV
indianexpress.com
“"To bridge the GDP gap, the Ministry should move away from marginal incremental budgeting and ensure a mandatory annual baseline increase of 10% in the education budget to gradually converge with the 6% GDP target."”
deccanchronicle.com
NDTV
indianexpress.com
Sources
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