Why Are Schools Pushing Private Publishers? NHRC Seeks Answers Since the start of the new academic session, private schools have been making headlines now and then. The reason for this is the long-standing yet rapidly growing practice of pressurising students and parents into buying textbooks from private publishers. To tackle the issue, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken a massive step, aiming to alleviate the additional burden middle-income families are facing. According to reports, the NHRC has ordered a nationwide audit of school booklists within 30 days, seeking Action Taken Reports from all states and Union Territories. The commission has also sent notices to the Ministry of Education and the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) over frequent complaints of private institutions asking students and their parents to purchase expensive textbooks. The bench, led by NHRC member Priyank Kanoongo, has further directed the Centre to elucidate the role of NCERT and SCERT in curriculum and textbook prescription within 15 days. Since the lingering issue is adversely affecting a child’s right to equitable and affordable education, the commission has sought responses from all the concerned authorities in this regard. Voicing the concerns of the general public, the commission added that executing varied curricula and books in government and private schools may fall under the category of academic discrimination. “If NCERT and SCERT have been assigned the roles of preparing standard books, why are schools prioritising private publishers?” the commission raised a big question. Unfortunately, textbooks are not the only thing that students and their parents stress about. Private institutions have been directing them to buy even uniforms from specific vendors, sparking discussions around the school-vendor nexus, trying to extort innocent families to earn huge margins. Besides uniforms, the academic fee structure of many private institutes has gone viral on the social media platform X, igniting debates among netizens. While some accepted the fact, alleging they too pay in thousands and lakhs for the annual fee of their children, others felt unsettled with the idea of education getting excessively commercialised. A few days ago, the Delhi government, GTB Nagar, and Lucknow district administrators took strong exception to the issue, asking private institutions not to pressure parents to buy textbooks or uniforms from specific vendors or charge a fee beyond the prescribed structure. The District Magistrate of Gautam Buddh Nagar, Medha Roopam, even announced a cap on fee hikes at 7.23 per cent for the 2026–27 academic session. Get Latest News Live on Times Now along with Breaking News and Top Headlines from Education, CBSE, JEE, UPSC and around the world. Deepali Samaniya has been covering education for the past 2 years with a passion for SEO and a knack for crafting engaging stories. She specialises in... View More