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Parents flag high costs of books prescribed by PVT CBSE schools
Hindustan Times Gurugram
|April 15, 2026
As the 2026-27 academic session begins, parents across CBSE-affiliated private schools have been raising concerns over the cost of textbooks for Classes 1 to 8, alleging that they are being compelled to buy expensive book sets from private publishers, often through authorised vendors and changed annually.
While a NCERT set for Classes 1 to 8 costs around ₹200-₹700 depending on the class, private publisher bundles for the same levels can range between ₹3,000 and ₹10,000, often including workbooks, supplementary readers and stationery.
This comes amid a regulatory gap as the CBSE mandates textbooks prescribed by the NCERT for Classes 9 to 12, it “strongly” advises their use in Classes 1 to 8.
This story is from the April 15, 2026 edition of Hindustan Times Gurugram.
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