KOCHI: Even as classes have commenced in the Kendriya Vidyalayas and several schools that follow the CBSE syllabus, the unavailability of the NCERT textbooks is causing hardships for the students.
Taking note of the issue, even the people’s representatives from the state had written to the Union Minister for Education, Dharmendra Pradhan. “The problem arose due to some confusion over whether there would be a change in syllabus for all classes in CBSE schools,” said the owner of a major bookstore in the city under the condition of anonymity.
There was a talk about the change in syllabus as a part of the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP), he said. According to him, the fact that only Classes III and VI will see a change in the syllabus was notified very late. “Because of this confusion, the placing of orders with the printers for these textbooks faced delays. Now, we have only a few copies of the books on certain subjects in stock,” said a bookstore owner.
Highlighting the issue, the owner of a major bookstore said that second-copy NCERT textbooks are available in some of the stores.
“Many publishing houses are trying to make the most of the situation by printing second-quality versions of the NCERT textbooks. Though inferior in quality compared to the originals, necessity forces parents to get them for their children. The result is that the bookstores that have placed orders for the same textbooks from the NCERT are left holding surplus stocks,” he said.
According to the bookstore owner, after he had shot off a letter to the NCERT regarding the matter, it was conveyed that the textbooks would start arriving in the market by the middle of May. “We expect that by the last week of May, all the textbooks will be available,” he added.