Kosal Discussion and Development Forum

Shortage of text books in Orissa

August 23, 2010 at 5:46 pm sanjibkarmee Leave a comment

Following report is from the Telegraph:

Bhubaneswar July 27: The non-availability of National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks under CBSE curriculum in major bookstores of the twin cities has posed a major problem for students and parents.

It’s almost a month since schools reopened after summer vacations and students still continue to hunt for their textbooks.

“We have been functioning without many text books for over a month now. Some of us have manage to get the books from our seniors and some others get it from those selling old books,” said Binay Routray, a student of ODM Public School.

Himanshu Pati, the owner of Sagar Book Stores, said: “We were informed in March that this year we would not be facing any problems but we are still waiting for the arrival of the books.”

“For the last one month, I have been hitting stores for a geography book for my son who studies in Class VI. I was assured that it would be available soon,” said Pratap Sahoo, a parent.

NCERT books are preferred for their simplified text and cheap price.

“There is a shortage of many books but our students manage either by taking notes from other books available in our library or from photocopies,” said Bijay Kumar Nayak, headmaster of Venketeswar School.

“The concerned authorities who are to ensure the availability of textbooks in the market have requested school teachers not to force the children to get them at their earliest,” added Sahoo.

Fortunately, online textbooks for different classes are easily available and many students prefer downloading them.

“The problem lies in the demand-supply gap and also in the delay in arrival of the books to the school. Many of our students download the books in case they are not available,” said A Mishra, headmaster of DM School.

Entry filed under: Athmallik, Balangir, Bargarh, Boudh, Deogarh, Industry and primary-secondary education, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Primary and Secondary Education, Region watch, Sambalpur, State govt. schools, State Watch-Monitoring the Odisha State, Subarnapur, Sundergarh.