Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE) on Wednesday said it will start distributing free textbooks for classes KG to 8th by mid-November.
Speaking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), JKBOSE Chairman, Ghulam Hassan Sheikh said, “We will start distributing free textbooks among students by mid-November.”
He said that the Board has not received a consignment of revised textbooks of classes 3rd and 6th.
“The textbooks of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th classes have been revised as per the NEP-2020. As of now, we have received revised textbooks of only classes 1st and 2nd and the consignment of free textbooks of classes 3rd and 6th is supposed to arrive by November-12,” he said.
JKBOSE Chairman further said that the free textbooks of other classes are available with the Board. “Therefore, we have decided to distribute the free textbooks when all the titles are available with us.”
“The 80 percent of syllabi of revised textbooks have been framed by the NCERT and 20 percent by JKBOSE. The revision has been mostly done in science and social science subjects,” he said.
Pertinently, the educational institutions across Kashmir Valley begin academic session 2026–27 from November-02 for KG to Class-10 students.
An official informed that the new academic session commenced after the schools completed annual assessments and declared results in line with the academic calendar.
Earlier, JKBOSE had said that the free textbooks among students will be distributed to various educational zones in the first week of November.
Former Education Minister, Sakeena Itoo in this regard had directed the officials to ensure timely completion of preparation of textbooks, syllabus and other needs.
Pertinent to mention that the concluded academic year witnessed a few disruptions, forcing the government to close schools across the Valley.
The closure was ordered amid protests and security restrictions following the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, with schools and colleges shut until March 7, 2026, during that episode.
Besides, low-intensity floods in parts of the Valley also affected normal classwork and other academic activities, forcing the government to order temporary closure of education institutions in Kashmir.
After brief disruptions, the academic activities were restored in all the educational institutions in the Valley.
