COIMBATORE: Headmasters of various government schools in the district said that despite their respective schools are all beneficiaries of library scheme, the district school education department had ordered them to buy books from a private book shop in the city using youth and eco-club funds.
A government middle school headmaster in Thondamuthur block, on condition of anonymity, said, "Library scheme was in force in our school and Samagra Shiksha provides books to school every year as part of the scheme to improve students' reading habit. Before Samagra Shiksha started distributing the books for 2020-21 academic year, Coimbatore school education the department has sent books, purchased from a private book shop and schools were asked to give `6,500 to the private book shop from the youth and eco-club funds."
"Nearly 240 middle schools in the district received books two times as Samagra Shiksha also distributed them later. We don't know why the district school education department is forcing us to buy books from the private book shop," he said.
Another headmaster said that the fund could have been used for school maintenance work, rather than buying the same books twice.
According to sources, school education department allocates `5,000 each to primary schools and Rs 15,000 each to middle schools.
Tamil Nadu Elementary School Teacher Federation district C Arasu said that most of the school headmasters had spent 40 per cent of the funds from youth and eco-club to buy books. "As a result, the funds have been wasted now. The allotted funds should be used only for the purpose concerned and top education officers in Chennai should ensure this," he said.
A top officer with the school education department in Chennai said that they would look into the issue.