Our school year started on April 1. We were told our new NCERT books would arrive by mid-April. Then NCERT pushed the date to August. It's now the end of September — almost six months into the year — and three books are still missing:

Mathematics – Ganita Manjari Part II
Social Science – Understanding Society: India and Beyond Part II
Social Science (Hindi medium)

CBSE has made NCERT books compulsory for Classes 9 to 12. Schools aren't allowed to use anything else. So when NCERT doesn't print a book, we simply have nothing to study from. There's no backup plan — except us figuring it out ourselves.

Class 9 is the foundation for our Class 10 boards. Every month without books is a month we can't get back.

Right now, we're studying off random PDFs, coaching handouts, and guesswork — with no real idea what's actually in our syllabus or what will show up in exams. Our teachers can't plan lessons or finish the syllabus either, because the books don't exist yet. Parents in small towns and government schools can't afford to buy expensive guidebooks as a substitute. And students without smartphones or reliable internet are left with the least of all.

We keep hearing explanations — a new curriculum, a "more careful" review process. None of that is our fault. We shouldn't be the ones losing marks and confidence over a delay we didn't cause. And promises with no real date attached don't mean anything to a student trying to prepare for exams.

OUR DEMANDS: 

1. Reduce the Class 9 syllabus for this academic year, to make up for the months lost waiting for books.

2. Issue a CBSE circular confirming exams will only cover content students have actually received.

3. Demand a public explanation for why the promised dates were missed — and who's accountable for it.

4. Make printed textbooks available in every bookshop and school, including Hindi-medium and rural areas, at official prices.