Fifty per cent of textbooks yet to be printed!
It is that time of year when students in secondary school should be walking into class with new textbooks in hand. Unfortunately, as much as fifty per cent of them simply cannot do that because the number of books printed so far is far short of demand. In other words, it is the same old problem, which comes up on an annual basis, only that it has come about in a much aggravated forms this year. The authorities are now of the opinion that those students in classes VI to X who do not have textbooks will need to wait for anywhere between two and three months before their needs can be fulfilled.
Basically, the NCTB remained indifferent to the fact that the syllabus had been modified this year. The creative question method, a new element in the textbooks for all five classes, naturally meant that it would no more do with a mere reprinting of old textbooks and that a fresh printing of new ones had now become necessary. The failure of the authorities to do their homework is thus mind-boggling. The modified syllabus meant that every student would need to buy new textbooks this year. The thought escaped the attention of NCTB whose responsibility it was to alter the total quantity of books needed to be printed for the current academic session and issue print orders accordingly to the publishers. But what seems inexplicable and patently irksome is that the NCTB and the printers are blaming each other for the fiasco.
The NCTB floated in November of last year tenders for only 2.62crore books for classes VI to X when the actual need was more than 5crore. In this regard, the assertion by the NCTB chairman that the printers and publishers of the books informed the body of the actual number of books needed only after the tender process had been completed appears to be on tenuous ground. And it is because the responsibility for assessing textbooks needs lies squarely with the NCTB rather than the printers and publishers who deliver to order. That is the point some publishers have made; and one cannot disagree with them.
The non-availability of textbooks in such a staggering number now puts both students and teachers in a quandary. Students who have not come by the books will lose out on what is being taught in the classroom. As for teachers, they will be in a moral dilemma while teaching, knowing fully well that many of their pupils are without the books they should be learning from.
So, the question we would like to ask is: why must we accept the two to three months' delay as a fait accompli? We suggest that the ministry, NCTB and printers must put their heads together to rework the schedule for additional book printing and deliver the textbooks on a double-quick basis through engaging more publishers and printers in the process.
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