Bengaluru: The department of pre-university (PU) education has changed norms on printing and distribution of textbooks for private aided and unaided PU colleges, making advance payment and online demand submission mandatory from 2026-27 academic year.Under the new guidelines, educational institutions must submit their textbook requirements class-wise, subject-wise and title-wise through SATS (Student Achievement Tracking System) portal. Printing and supply of textbooks will begin only after the prescribed amount, fixed by Karnataka Textbook Society (KTBS), is paid in advance through an online payment gateway.The decision to change rules followed observations that during previous academic years, only around 40% of the total student strength in PU colleges sought textbooks through official channels. Despite this, books were printed based on broader estimates, leading to a large number of unsold copies being stored in warehouses.Officials noted that many PU students opted for NCERT textbooks available in the open market instead of purchasing them through colleges. As a result, surplus stock created financial problems for KTBS. To avoid wastage and unnecessary financial burden, the state govt decided to adopt the same demand-based system already followed for private schools from classes 1 to 10.“Until now, we were not getting the exact requirements of students. So, sometimes what they required was not available for purchase, and in some cases, printing was in excess of demand. The new process has been initiated for aided/unaided PU colleges so that actual requirements can be obtained and the same printed and provided,” said Bharath Selvan, director, PU education.
