- By Anshika Verma
- Wed, 27 Aug 2025 01:24 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
For the first time, in line with the National Education Policy’s requirement that education rooted in the Indian ethos such as Indian classical music, dance, theatre, and visual arts will be included in the primary and middle school textbooks (Class 3 to 8) for the first time. With these new arts textbooks, students will be exposed to various Indian classical dance forms and music culture.
Classical Music and Dance:
For the upcoming academic session 2025 to 2026, an arts textbook has been introduced for class 8th which has been named as ‘Kriti.’ This textbook talks about Indian music such as swar, laya, and shabd in detail and will teach the students about the fundamental elements of classical Indian music. This curriculum will also include the recitation of Sanskrit shlokas which is not so common. It will help students in understanding shlokas in Sanskrit using swar and laya patterns and variations, and introduces traditional and folk songs in regional languages.
This also helps students in understanding the seven notes of classical music in several layas. The NCERT book also focusses on the rendition of ragasfrom Hindustani and Carnatic music culture. This book also includes dance sections such as Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Mohiniyattam, Odissi, and Sattriya, whereas these lessons also highlight abhinaya, storytelling and hand gestures used in the Natyashastra and Abhinaya Darpanam.
Head of the NCERT Textbook Development:
‘Prior to this textbook, there was no school textbook which exposed students to several classical forms of dance and music culture. The students would have to enrol in private training for learning these forms of dances and music. Now they will get information related to these parts as a part of the school curriculum only,’ mentioned Sandhya Purecha, chairperson of Sangeet Natak Akademi and head of the NCERT textbook development.
Textbook Names for Class 3, 6 and 8:
The textbooks for Classes 3 to 5 are named ‘Bansuri,’ whereas textbooks for Classes 6 to 8 are titled ‘Kriti.’ NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani mentioned in the Class 8 edition, ‘Kriti has infused in its visuals and other cultural components, the rich Indian Knowledge systems, India’s artistic, dance, music and cultural heritage, values all deeply rooted in Bharat.”
Important Note: To make sure that these new textbooks reach to a broader audience, the books have been translated into a total of 19 languages, including Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam, Gujarati, Odia, Punjabi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Assamese, and other languages.