Even after commencement of the second term, the second volume of textbooks, to be taught from November 1 onwards, is yet to reach many schools in the state owing to administrative delay.
Sources said that thousands of second volume textbooks are lying in various depots, as the distribution process in many districts came to a halt owing to delay in sanctioning reprint orders.
According to Kerala School Teachers’ Association (KSTA) general secretary M Shahjahan, the distribution of the first volume of textbooks too had faced problems in some districts.
“In fact, the first-term examination had to be conducted in many schools where the first volume of textbooks had not been distributed,” he said, urging the government to take immediate steps to ensure that at least the second volume of textbooks reached schools without much delay. Admitting that there was delay in distribution of textbooks, Kerala Books and Publications Society (KBPS) officials said that the issue is now confined only to Alappuzha and Kottayam districts.
“We had received additional print orders as some schools had not furnished the actual requirement. Though we had informed the Directorate of Public Instruction seeking sanction for reprinting in the second week of October, the order came only by October 30,” KBPS managing director B S Mohammed Yasin told ‘Express’.
“The reprint order amounts to over 1.5 lakh books. However, there are 17 different titles in various languages, which is a time-consuming process,” he said, adding that the anomalies would be addressed within a week.
Sources said that private agencies entrusted with distribution of textbooks, insisted on beginning the distribution process only after the entire lot was printed, leading to further delay. However, teachers’ associations say poor coordination on the part of officials was responsible for the fiasco.
“Officials should have learnt lessons from the mistakes that occurred in the distribution process last year and planned accordingly. However, there was no proper assessment of requirement or advanced planning,” Shahjahan said.
The support of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) should also have been sought in the textbook distribution process, as was done in previous years, he said. The lack of a proper monitoring committee has also compounded the problem, Shahjahan said.
