NCERT Textbook Shortage Leaves Bengaluru CBSE Schools Struggling, Class 9 Students Most Affected

NCERT textbook shortages in Bengaluru CBSE schools are affecting classes 6–9, with Class 9 students facing major disruptions due to a new syllabus.

on Jun 04, 2026

NCERT Textbook Shortage Leaves Bengaluru CBSE Schools Struggling, Class 9 Students Most Affected

The new academic session is starting, but many CBSE schools in Bengaluru are dealing with a lack of NCERT textbooks. This shortage is making things tough for teachers and students. Though all grades from 6 to 9 face this issue, Class 9 students seem to suffer the most. They just got a whole new, revamped syllabus.

Even though NCERT offers digital versions of their textbooks on their site and through the DIKSHA app, these don't work well for classrooms. It’s tricky when trying to teach languages; teachers can't easily guide students through texts and materials like they usually do.

Teachers tell me that without textbooks, lessons are being bogged down by sharing scanned pages and reading from PDFs rather than spending time actually learning. The Science and Social Science classes miss out the most because they depend so much on the book’s diagrams, maps, and illustrations.

In response to this problem, some schools let kids borrow books from the library as a backup plan. Still, the school heads know this solution won't fix everything long-term.

Distributors struggle to give definite dates for the arrival of important textbooks, such as the Social Science book for Class 9. Because of this confusion, schools uploaded digital copies onto their internal platforms for kids to read online.

This isn't sitting well with parents. Lots of them end up printing pages every single day to help their kids study. This constant printing gets expensive and isn't great for the environment either.

Parents are really ticked off because they print textbook pages daily, which isn't cheap and is tough on the environment. They can't understand why the supply wasn't sorted out before schools opened, especially since Class 9 finals hugely impact the next grade’s exams.

This issue hits booksellers hard too. Retailers say parents and students pop into their shops each day hunting for NCERT books but go home empty-handed because there aren’t enough in stock.

Experts think this book delay is messing with how schools plan lessons and kids' learning progress. The timing problem's particularly bad since Southern schools start earlier than those in the North. This means teachers in the South face extra pressure trying to finish coursework and ready.

School reps say this isn't the first time textbook shortages have hit when NCERT revises materials for other grades. They think the current issue could've been predicted and handled better, especially since these books are huge for board exam prep and competition exams.

Educators, parents, and kids hope for a quick fix since schools started way back in January. Nobody wants the learning lag to grow any more than it already has.