PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textbook Board has introduced security features in the school books, saying the move will curb illegal reproduction, ensure quality assurance and protect the intellectual rights of the board and publishers.

Officials said the KPTBB had rolled out a robust system of security labels to be affixed to its textbooks for general sale.

They added that those security labels were embedded with strong and verifiable security features designed to distinguish genuine KPTBB publications from pirated copies.

The officials said the KPTBB played a pivotal role in ensuring the availability of quality educational material for students across the province.

Textbook board says move to curb piracy, ensure authenticity of books

They said that as the primary authority responsible for publishing textbooks, the board prints two distinct categories of books including those intended for public schools, which the government distributed among students free of charge and those produced for general sales, which were primarily used by private schools.

The officials said that as per official data the board prints 35 million books for the consumption of government schools and 1.7 million for private schools.

They said that over the past few years, the board has faced persistent challenges in sales of books that have significantly affected its operations, revenue and the overall integrity of its publications.

The officials said one of the most pressing issues confronting KPTBB had been a consistent decline in books sales due to the widespread availability of pirated textbooks in the market.

They said those illegally reproduced books not only undermine the board’s revenue but also raise serious concerns regarding content accuracy, print quality and reliability.

The officials said for a long time, there was no comprehensive or effective mechanism in place to counter these problems, allowing piracy to flourish and eroding confidence in officially published textbooks.

They said besides monetary losses to the board due to pirated books, the pirated books also often contained errors, substandard printing and compromised binding, negatively affecting the students’ learning experiences.

The officials said the unchecked circulation of such materials infringed upon intellectual property rights and discourages lawful publishing practices.

When contacted, chairman of the KPTBB Abidullah Kakakhel said the security labels would be affixed at multiple stages on the printed textbooks to ensure comprehensive coverage.

He said that all newly-printed stock would carry those labels to be used for the next academic year starting in April, while the existing stock at the board as well as with authorised sales agents would also be labeled accordingly.

The chairman said the phased but thorough implementation ensured that authentic books can be easily identified throughout the supply chain, from the publisher to the bookseller and ultimately to the student, he said.

He said that to reinforce the effectiveness of this initiative, the KPTBB had formally informed all booksellers and distributors to verify the presence of security labels before purchasing or selling textbooks.

Mr Kakakhel said the board had also made it clear that strict legal action will be initiated against sellers found dealing in unlabeled or counterfeit books. “These measures signal a strong commitment to enforcing compliance and discouraging illegal business practices.”

The board chairman said that elimination of piracy would ensure that learners receive accurate and reliable educational content.

He also said the initiative sought to discourage illegal trade that infringes upon intellectual property rights and undermines lawful publishing.

“With collective cooperation from booksellers, schools, law-enforcement agencies and the general public, this initiative has the potential to restore confidence in textbooks publishing, promote a culture of respect for intellectual property and curb piracy and substandard learning materials across the province,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 3rd, 2026