UP Board to Replace Textbooks with NCERT Books

In an attempt to bring its curriculum at par with that of the CBSE Board, the Uttar Pradesh State Government has taken a decision to replace the Uttar Pradesh Secondary Education Board with National Council of Education Research & Training (NCERT) textbooks.

The Board has asked of its district inspectors to implement this decision, which will be brought about effective from academic year 2018, by ensuring that principals of schools which fall under their jurisdiction are made aware of the change.

Several additions to the existing syllabus have been made accordingly by the UP Board, such as including new topics to the existing curriculum, like the new GST brought about by the government. Key Highlights of this change are:

• NCERT Books will only be made mandatory for students studying in standards 9 to 12
• Except for two specific subjects – Krishi (Study of Agriculture) for High School and Intermediate school students, and Vyavsayik (Study of Business Studies) for Intermediate school students, all subjects will have their textbooks changed to NCERT
• Due to different syllabus in the two aforementioned subjects, they will continue to use the UP Board textbooks
• The first batch of students to answer the Board examinations for standards 10^th and 12^th in the academic year 2019 will be the first to face the exams under the NCERT textbook system

Millions of students appear for their Standard 10^th and 12^th examinations each year under the UP Board. In 2017, this figure crossed 36 lakh for high school board exams, and 29 lakh for intermediate school board exams. Besides this, the state also has over 35 lakh students studying in schools affiliated to the UP Board, in a total of over 23,900 government and private schools.

The Board examination results for the year 2017 for standard 10^th and 12^th were declared on 9^th June.