8th English NCERT Syllabus page

School principals and teachers can encourage children's learning by promoting reflection on their learning, pursuing imaginative activities and questions, and providing space, time, and freedom for children to engage with information and generate new knowledge.

Treating the prescribed textbook as the sole basis of examination is seen as a limitation because it leads to ignoring other resources and sites of learning, hindering the inculcation of creativity and initiative in children. It restricts children to being passive receivers of knowledge rather than active participants in learning.

The factors considered in rationalizing the textbooks include content based on genres of literature, achieving Learning Outcomes for language proficiency, reducing curriculum load and examination stress due to the pandemic, ensuring easy accessibility for self-learning or peer-learning, and eliminating irrelevant content in the present context.

The NCERT acknowledges the hard work done by the textbook development committee, the Chairperson of the advisory committee in languages Professor Namwar Singh, the Chief Advisor Professor R. Amritavalli, several teachers, institutions, organisations, and the National Monitoring Committee chaired by Professor Mrinal Miri and Professor G.P. Deshpande for their valuable contributions and support.

The National Education Policy 2020 emphasizes reducing content load on students and providing opportunities for experiential learning with a creative mindset. It aims to reduce curriculum load, examination stress, and encourage self-learning or peer-learning approaches for students.