PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has rejected a petition against the decision of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textbook Board to adopt school books for grades 9-12 provided by the National Curriculum Council (NCC) and execute a profit-sharing contract with eight private publishers whose list was provided by the council.

A bench consisting of Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Mohammad Faheem Wali also lifted a stay order, allowing the KP Textbook Board (KPTBB) to proceed with the adoption and printing of textbooks aligned with the Single National Curriculum for grades 9-12.

The petition was jointly filed by the MN Printers and Publishers and two others, which requested the court to declare illegal the decision taken by KPTBB on Feb 7, 2025, to adopt grades 9-12 textbooks provided by NCC.

The petitioners requested the court to declare that they had a legitimate right to participate in the textbook development process as per Clause 3.2 of the KP Textbook and Learning Material (KPTLM) Policy, 2017.

Local publishers claim board’s decision violated 2017 policy

The petitioner stated that the actions of respondents including the provincial government and the KPTBB in adopting textbooks from private publishers without advertisement and in complete regard to procedure outlined in Clause 3.2 of KPTLMA Policy were arbitrary and illegal.

They had also sought directives of the court for the respondents to adhere to the procedure laid down in Clause 3.2 of the policy to ensure transparency, competition and non-discriminatory practice in the textbook development process for grades 9-12.

The counsel for petitioners said that the ministry of federal education and professional training (FEPT) had forwarded model textbooks for grades 9-12 based on the National Curriculum of Pakistan 2022-23, which was examined by KPTBB.

He said that the matter was placed before the provincial cabinet, which approved the adoption of model textbooks for grades 9-12 offered by NCC and their adoption under Clause 3.2-A of KPTLM Policy 2017, subject to necessary review by the Directorate of Curriculum and Teachers Education (DCTE).

The lawyer said that a meeting was conducted on Feb 7, 2025, wherein KPTBB decided to execute an agreement between the board and certain publishers outlining the terms and conditions of the review, payment structures and responsibilities.

He argued that the KPTBB’s act was illegal, being violative of the cabinet’s approval and contrary to Clause 3.2-A, which didn’t contain any condition for the execution of a profit-sharing agreement with publishers.

The counsel said that the NCC director had sent a letter to the provincial government on Feb 1, declaring that the ownership right for model textbooks would be managed as per the federal government’s contract with publishers and contract between FE&PT and provincial government and had also forwarded the list of certain publishers for model textbooks for grades 9-12.

He argued that the action was in utter disregard of the constitutional mandate and the policy of the provincial government.

Representing the KPTBB, senior lawyer Shumail Ahmad Butt argued that the move would promote uniformity in education standards across the country and yield significant financial savings—estimated at Rs600 million annually—in royalties otherwise payable to local publishers.

He refuted the claims made by the petitioners, explaining that the development of textbooks by the NCC began in Sept 2023 through a nationwide, transparent process.

Mr Butt said that publishers from across Pakistan were invited to submit manuscripts, which were reviewed and shortlisted based on quality and adherence to the SNC.

He pointed out that Clause 3.2-A of the 2017 policy explicitly empowered the government to acquire manuscripts from alternative sources free of charge, bypassing the standard royalty-based procurement process.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2025