NCERT New Class 9 Textbook: The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has introduced a new Class 9 English textbook, "Kaveri", which will be implemented from the 2026-27 academic session onwards. The new book will replace the earlier English textbooks "Beehive" and "Moments", which have been part of the curriculum since the 2006-07 academic session.
The new textbook features a greater focus on works by Indian authors compared to the previous books, which included 29 texts, of which 15 were written by international authors.
Indian authors whose works appear in "Kaveri" include Tamil poet Subramania Bharati, Rajya Sabha MP and author Sudha Murty, Naga writer Temsula Ao, Rabindranath Tagore, and Assamese novelist Mitra Phukan.
Along with the reduction in the number of textbooks, the total number of texts has also been reduced - from 29 earlier to 16 in the new book. The revised selection now includes an equal number of texts by Indian and international authors.
Stories, Poems In The Book
The new book "Kaveri" opens with a story from the 2004 collection "How I Taught My Grandmother to Read and Other Stories" by Rajya Sabha MP and author Sudha Murty.
It also includes an anonymous poem titled "Gifts of Grace: Honouring Our Vocations", along with an interview-based piece, "The World of Limitless Possibilities", which features a conversation with Paralympic athlete Deepa Malik.
Total Texts, Authors
The textbook has been prepared under the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 and incorporates "elements of Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS)".
The book contains a total of 16 texts - eight by Indian authors, including Subramania Bharati, Sudha Murty, Temsula Ao, Mitra Phukan and Rabindranath Tagore. Six texts are by foreign writers such as American poet David Roth, English poet Charles Swain, American children's writer Bryanna T. Perkins, poet Robert Langley, writer Maya Anthony, and Singapore-based author Irene Chua.
Beehive And Moments