BHUBANESWAR: Members of Odisha Abhibhabak Mahasangha on Tuesday threatened to stage agitation over non-use of NCERT books in CBSE and ICSE-affiliated schools in the State. They said if the State Government fails to ensure that NCERT books are used for study in CBSE and ICSE schools, the parents body will intensify its protest and launch a hunger strike on March 2.
Though the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the State Government had directed the private schools to prescribe NCERT or SCERT books for study, the educational institutions are forcing students to buy private publishers’ books, they alleged.
Even private schools are earning upto 45 per cent profit by asking their students to purchase such books. Parents are suffering due to it as the cost of private publishers’ books are very expensive compared to NCERT one, said Mahasangha chairman Basudev Bhatt.
He alleged that the direction of the Commission and Government is not being implemented at the district-level due to unholy nexus between the officials and private schools. "If the Government fails to ensure the implementation of the direction within next seven days, we will stage hunger strike on March 2," he said.
An official from the School and Mass Education department, however, said an instruction has already been issued to the private schools in this regard and appropriate steps will be taken for its implementation.