There is something almost Shakespearean about the academic year Class IX students have been handed in 2026. The year began with much ado about languages.On April 9, CBSE issued a notification stating that R3, the third language, would not apply at the Class IX level until the 2029–30 academic session. Barely five weeks later, on May 15, it issued another circular requiring Class IX students to study three languages from July 1, with at least two being Indian languages. The abrupt change left students, parents and schools scrambling to understand what it meant for children already in the system. It eventually led to a legal challenge.Parents (like me) raised a fairly simple question: why should children already in classes VII to IX become collateral participants in a policy transition introduced after their academic journey and their choice of a foreign language had already begun in Class VI?On June 29, CBSE issued detailed guidelines on the three-language policy and provided transition arrangements for existing students of Classes VII–IX. There was some relief, at least for those of us who had spent weeks trying to make sense of the policy.But alongside the language-policy maze, another problem was quietly gathering: the textbooks.The new Class IX curriculum came with a new set of NCERT textbooks. They did not all arrive when the academic session began in April. The books arrived piecemeal, with Part I of Mathematics and Social Science among those that reached students later.By September, parents were asking a rather more basic question: where were Part II of the Mathematics and Social Science textbooks?The answer was that they were still to arrive, with Mathematics Part II scheduled for release on September 21 and Social Science Part II on September 30.Parents had formally written to the Union education ministry and CBSE about the delay. The issue was also reported independently, with parents and school heads pointing to the difficulties of planning and completing the revised syllabus without the prescribed books.In As You Like It, Shakespeare writes that “all the world’s a stage”. For the current Class IX cohort, it certainly feels like one this year. Except that in this particular production, the actors have been handed a revised script, a new subplot about three languages, a revised syllabus and no props for Act II.But the children cannot simply walk off the stage when this production goes awry. They have to attend class, sit for tests, complete assignments, prepare for examinations, finish the syllabus and then move into Class X.Parents seek clarityFor children, parents, teachers and schools trying to decipher successive notifications, clarifications and transition arrangements, the three-language rollout took considerable attention this year. Questions arose about which languages children could choose, what would happen to those already studying a foreign language and how the new requirements would apply to existing batches.Parents had good reason to seek clarity. A child’s language choice can affect the subjects she has been studying, the teachers available at her school and, quite simply, what she has planned to continue learning.Importantly, the textbook availability question was not even a new one.In December 2025, the CBSE Governing Body, while considering the implementation of the three-language formula (R1, R2 and R3) for Classes IX–X, as proposed in the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023, explicitly linked its implementation to the release of NCERT textbooks.The minutes noted that the required regional language textbooks at the different levels were not yet available centrally and proposed that schools continue with the existing scheme of studies, particularly with regard to languages, until NCERT released the graded textbooks. The Governing Body subsequently ratified the Curriculum Committee’s recommendation.The December decision concerned language textbooks, not the later delay in the availability of Class IX Mathematics and Social Science textbooks. But it shows that CBSE had recognised textbook availability as an implementation consideration when introducing curricular change.Considering this, how did the system arrive at September with Class IX students still waiting for Part II of two core subjects?Calendar moves faster than textbooksA child cannot pause April, May, June, July, August and September while waiting for textbooks and then be expected to sprint through months of syllabus in the remaining months.A textbook gives teachers time to familiarise themselves with the material, plan lessons and assignments and pace the syllabus. It gives students something they can annotate, revise and return to. It gives parents something tangible to refer to when they ask the most ordinary question in the world: “What did you do in school today?” or “How do I help my child with the academics?”The absence of a prescribed textbook on time made the process uncertain, particularly when an entire curriculum had been revised. Teachers, too, have been trying to make the best of the situation. When Part I books were delayed, they turned to other resources like PDFs and digital material.These may be practical temporary workarounds, but they don’t amount to a functioning system.Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrowNCERT’s response to the textbook grievance is that textbook development involves academic review, scrutiny, editing, design, printing and publication. It says that the concerns of students and teachers have been noted and that the Mathematics Part II and Social Science Part II books were in the final stage of development and expected to be released “very shortly.”For parents waiting for Part II books, “shortly” is a rather elastic measure of time.The academic year is not waiting for the Class IX student. At some point, “very shortly” has to become an actual date. In a few months, this cohort of Class IX students will step into one of the most crucial academic years of their school life: Class X. They should be able to enter that chapter armed with their books, their preparation and their confidence, not scrambling to make up for what the system failed to put in their hands.What is their fault?Children did not design the curriculum or announce the language policy. They did not decide to implement a revised curriculum this academic year. They are not responsible for writing, printing or distributing the textbooks.Yet when implementation goes awry, children are expected to catch up. That is what troubles me the most as a parent. We speak constantly about putting the child at the centre of education. But the child is often the last person consulted when a policy changes and the first person expected to adjust when its implementation becomes difficult.The question circles back to something remarkably basic: Are we ready?All concerned stakeholders caught in a bind right now would agree that there is nothing wrong with reform, revising textbooks or asking children to learn Indian languages. But the books need to exist and teachers need time to understand them. Schools need time to plan and children need time to learn.All’s well that ends well?Perhaps. But an academic year is not a Shakespearean comedy in which every complication can be tidied away before the final curtain.Lost teaching hours will not magically return when a textbook consignment finally reaches a school.And this is where Hamlet offers one final, unintended lesson: “The play’s the thing.” For these children, the book is the thing.They have already navigated notifications, circulars, clarifications, revised syllabi and, at times, what seemed like a circular explaining the circular. All that they wanted was their books on time.We may call this educational reform. We may call it curricular transition. We may call it a new pedagogical vision. But for the child sitting in the classroom, the question was considerably less grand: Where are my books?Shillpi A Singh is an award-winning communications professional, independent journalist and translator of Tumhari Auqaat Kya Hai, Piyush Mishra.