BENGALURU: Students from pre-university colleges (PUCs) across Karnataka are still waiting for free textbooks that were promised by the state government and were expected to reach them by May-end.
The state government has provided free textbooks to students only from first to tenth standards so far. The Karnataka wing of the All-India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) stated that government PU colleges in at least seven districts of Bengaluru, Yadgir, Hassan, Tumakuru, Mysuru, Ballari, and Raichur are only receiving partial shipments of textbooks, which are not enough for all the students.
Prof Niranjanaradhya VP, a development educationist, pointed out that the delay will hit students from socioeconomically weaker backgrounds the most. “This is a very important stage of education, and the gap in terms of preparation between the relatively affluent and the underserved will be huge. The rich and urban demographics can manage with access to other resources of knowledge, but for the poor, free textbooks are often the only available resource.
The chief minister should take cognisance of this,” he said. AIDSO state vice-president Apoorva CM said the setback will affect the marginalised the most, as students from affluent demographics enrol themselves at private institutions.
“This is the result of the state overnment’s irresponsible attitude towards socioeconomically vulnerable communities. Most students from the underprivileged strata have access to only their mobile phones,” she said.
Apoorva also deemed this neglect to be seeds sown into a fertile ground for the widespread and steady privatisation of education in Karnataka, and the nation at large.
