1 lakh Guj students sans textbooks

Around one lakh primary students in the state are still waiting for their textbooks, though it is already one-and-a-half months since the new academic year started on June 15. This was revealed when DNA contacted district primary education officers of various districts and the officials of municipal school boards of six municipal corporations, for information in this regard.
Panchmahal district has the largest number of primary students not yet given their textbooks. A total of 11,100 students of primary classes — Std I to Std VII — in the district are waiting for their textbooks.

Ahmedabad and Surat municipal school boards have each around 7,000 primary students without textbooks. Thousands of primary students in Kutch, Dang, Junagadh, Surat, Valsad, Kheda, Anand, Vadodara, Banaskantha, Sabarkantha and other districts are also waiting for textbooks.

Shortage of textbooks is a problem for Std VIII students in a majority of primary schools run by district panchayats and municipal corporations. In Panchmahal, however, the shortage has affected students of all primary classes.

In Kheda, textbook shortage is particularly acute in upper primary classes. In the case of Ahmedabad municipal school board students of all primary classes and mediums are waiting for textbooks, besides Std VIII students. Curiously, in Anand district, 5500 students have not received their Hindi language textbook.

In most other municipal corporations, Std VIII students have not received textbooks irrespective of their medium. In Ahmedabad, however, students of Std I to Std VII of all mediums other than Gujarati and Hindi have not received textbooks. These include students of Sindhi, English, Marathi and Tamil mediums.

Sindhi and English medium students of all primary classes (including Std VIII) in Ahmedabad municipal school board are yet to get textbooks, said officials of the board.

Officials and office-bearers of various municipal school boards have made several representations about the textbook shortage to the primary education department but in vain. “We have been demanding textbooks for more than a month but have received nothing so far,” said Jagdish Bhavsar, chairman of Ahmedabad municipal school board.

However, officials of the state school textbook board said that the schools had got delayed in submitting their demand for textbooks.

“Many schools got late approval for lowering Std VIII to primary school. As a result, they got delayed in submitting their requirement for textbooks and this why supply has got delayed,” said an official on the condition of anonymity.

Director of primary education RC Raval, who is also in-charge of CERT, could not be reached for his comment.