Pune, May 26 K Chandrika (name changed), a student of class 10 in a Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus school will consider herself lucky if she can procure all her textbooks by September-October. Because going by record in the past few years that is when she is likely to get these textbooks.
“Sure, some download it from the internet and others have them photocopied - both hugely costly options. But unfortunately my parents can’t afford either,” she said, adding, “Generally, for almost five months- half the academic year - we don’t get the books and have to rely on the notes given in the classes.”
Most school principals agree. “Notes are available but they are only vitamin tablets. You must get proper food - the textbooks - to survive,” said a principal of a Kendriya Vidyalaya.
The problem of non-availability of textbooks is not new. “Whenever the syllabus gets changed, there is a severe shortage of textbooks. But when the CBSE has the record of the number of students studying their syllabus, why can’t they plan the distribution of textbooks properly,” asked a parent. This year CBSE has changed the syllabus for class 5 and 8.
“National Council Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is entitled to write the textbooks. They have a strong team of writers. We do agree that there is a shortage of books when the syllabus gets changed. But in that case, one can download the textbooks from the website of NCERT,” said I S Wadhava, deputy secretary (administration), CBSE. He denied that there was a shortage of books.
The students and the teachers beg to differ. “We do download the textbooks and get it printed, but it takes a lot of time. Moreover, to photocopy all those printouts is definitely costlier than the original textbooks,” said the principal of Kendriya Vidyalaya. He pointed out that all the students may not have access to the internet.
The science textbook for class 8 costs Rs 30. If someone has to download it from the internet and then take printout, the same book will cost about Rs 300. The other option is to take the printout of the first few chapters - say 50 pages - in a bid to cut the cost and hope that the textbook becomes available by the time that portion is taught.
The schools blame the distributors for the shortage of books. “If the book depots have better coordination, it will ease the things,” said Binita Punekar, principal, Army Public School.
The booksellers have a different take. According to Rajesh Agarwal, proprietor of Sai Shubham book depot in Wanavdi Bazar, the problem of shortage of books has been a reality ever since he got into this business in 2001.
“The NCERT supplies textbooks to four regional depots in the country — Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Pargana (West Bengal). These depots then distribute the stock to different recognised distributors, who supply the books to shopkeepers. Most of the time the stock is insufficient,” he said.
“While the schools have already started on March 29, textbooks of class 5 and 8 are still not available. There is a shortage of class 6 mathematics book, class 7 science and Sanskrit books and class 9 and 10 Hindi books. I literally receive hundreds of enquiries for these books every day, but I’m in no position to help,” said Agarwal.
Some schools are trying to minimise the damage. “We want to minimise the headache of the students and parents. But even we don’t get the books, we download some chapters from internet and give notes to the students till the stock comes,” said Jayanti Iyengar, academic officer, B G Academy in Kalewadi.
Efforts to elicit a response from the CBSE chairman Ashok Ganguly and NCERT director Krishna Kumar proved futile as both didn’t respond to telephone calls and emailed questions as to why they could not get their act together and plan the distribution of text books properly year after year.
Source: expressindia.com
Related Posts: