CURRENT AFFAIRS | 02 OCTOBER 2026
NCERT to Teach Class 9 Students How to Compute Income Tax Under the New Regime
For the first time at the school level, students as young as Class 9 will learn to calculate their income-tax liability under the new tax regime. The new NCERT social science textbook, Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Part Two, carries a chapter titled “Managing Your Personal Finances,” which walks learners through slab-wise tax computation. NCERT Director Dinesh Prasad Saklani described the hands-on exercise as “a first for this age group.”
- Chapter “Managing Your Personal Finances” added to the Class 9 textbook
- Textbook: Understanding Society: India and Beyond, Part Two
- Students will compute actual slab-wise tax under the NEW tax regime
- Called “a first for this age group” by NCERT Director D.P. Saklani
- Aligned with the financial-literacy goals of NEP 2020 and NCF-SE 2023
A Shift Towards Financial Literacy
The move reflects a deliberate turn in Indian school education towards practical, competency-based learning. Rather than treating taxation as an abstract civics topic, the chapter has pupils work through the steps of determining liability against listed slabs — connecting classroom learning to the real decisions of adult citizenship.
The Policy Backbone
The redesign flows from the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which replaced the 1986 policy and reorganised schooling into a 5+3+3+4 structure. NEP 2020 explicitly emphasises financial literacy, numeracy, experiential learning and life skills. The new textbooks are built on the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023, the operational document that translates the policy into syllabi and teaching material.
Income tax is a direct tax levied by the Union. The power flows from Article 246 read with the Seventh Schedule — Entry 82 of the Union List covers taxes on income other than agricultural income. Article 265 reinforces the rule of law in taxation: “No tax shall be levied or collected except by authority of law.” The “new tax regime” under Section 115BAC of the Income-tax Act offers lower slab rates with fewer exemptions and is now the default regime.
The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), established in 1961, is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education. It advises on school education, develops textbooks and frames the National Curriculum Framework. It is an advisory and academic body, not a regulatory or examining authority.
Why Start So Early
Financial literacy from Class 9 dovetails with the broader push for a financially aware citizenry, reinforced by the investor-education efforts of regulators such as the RBI and SEBI. Teaching tax computation early builds the habit of informed, rule-based decision-making that NEP 2020 prizes. A student who can read a slab table and apply it to a notional income is being trained not merely in arithmetic but in the civic literacy of a taxpayer.
Old Regime Versus New Regime
The chapter’s choice of the new tax regime is itself instructive. Under Section 115BAC, the new regime offers lower slab rates but withdraws most of the exemptions and deductions available under the older system; because it is now the default, it is the regime most new earners will encounter first. Walking Class 9 students through slab-wise computation under this regime therefore mirrors the real choice architecture a young earner will face, making the lesson immediately practical rather than historical.
From Policy to Classroom
The sequence from NEP 2020 to NCF-SE 2023 to the new textbook shows how education reform actually reaches a pupil. The policy sets the aspiration — financial literacy and competency-based learning; the curriculum framework converts it into learning outcomes; and NCERT, as the autonomous academic body, authors the material. That NCERT’s own Director highlighted the chapter as “a first for this age group” underscores that this is a conscious pedagogical shift, not an incidental addition.
CLAT GK regularly tests NEP 2020 features (financial literacy, 5+3+3+4 structure, year of adoption), the role of NCERT, and the direct-versus-indirect tax distinction. Pair this with the constitutional basis of taxation — Article 265, Article 246 and the Union List Entry 82 — which surfaces in Legal Reasoning passages on fiscal powers.
Keep two policies apart: “NEP sets the vision (2020), NCF-SE builds the syllabus (2023).” For taxation, link “265 – no tax without law” with “Entry 82 – income tax on the Union List.”
Practice Quiz — 10 CLAT-Style Questions
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