Onlykashmir.in News Desk
In a major relief for students and parents, the Jammu and Kashmir government will begin distributing free textbooks to students of government schools for classes 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and 8 from Monday. Education Minister Shamim Firdous is scheduled to launch the exercise formally at a government school in Srinagar.
The Minister said the distribution would begin on Monday and is expected to be completed within a week. “We will start distributing the books from Monday. Hopefully, the process will be completed within a week, and the books will be available in every school by the end of this month,” she said.
Textbooks for classes 3 and 6 will take approximately another week, she added, because some revised titles for both classes are in the final stage of printing. These books will be distributed once the pending consignments reach the headquarters of the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE) in Srinagar.
This is the first time that free textbooks for a new academic session are set to reach government school students across Jammu and Kashmir in November. Last year, the distribution process had started in December. The development comes shortly after the new academic session 2026-27 began on November 2.
Earlier, JKBOSE Chairman Ghulam Hassan Sheikh had said that the Board was awaiting the consignment of revised textbooks for classes 3 and 6, prepared in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The revised textbooks have been developed by drawing largely on NCERT content and UT-specific learning material, in accordance with the contextualisation provisions laid down under the NEP.
Timely availability of textbooks has been a recurring concern for government school students and teachers. When books arrive late, classroom teaching often proceeds without prescribed material, and students from poorer families, who rely entirely on free distribution, are the most affected. A November start, a month earlier than last year, therefore addresses a long-standing complaint, even though classes 3 and 6 will have to wait a little longer.
The change in content for these two classes also reflects the phased rollout of NEP-aligned curricula, which requires new titles to be written, reviewed and printed before they can be supplied to schools. Officials have indicated that printing and logistics for the remaining titles are in their final phase.
Parents and teachers will now be watching whether the books actually reach schools in remote and hilly areas by the end of the month, as promised. The launch event in Srinagar on Monday is expected to set the tone for the statewide exercise, and the Minister’s one-week timeline will serve as the benchmark against which the distribution is judged.
