CHENNAI: Delay in distributing items of the free educational kit to government and aided schoolchildren has affected the studies of many, especially in rural areas. While bags and slippers/shoes are yet to be distributed in many parts of TN, textbooks and notebooks were distributed only recently, said a few government schoolteachers.
TN Textbook and Educational Services Corporation has been procuring and distributing the free items since 2013. “Students returned to schools after two years of irregular classes. So, the government should do everything to keep them there, including distributing free items in time. Most government schoolchildren are poor and expenses to buy these items themselves could hurt them,” said a schoolteacher.
A senior officer of the Textbook and Educational Services Corporation, however, claimed that there were delays in distributing free items in previous years as well. In some places it had gone up to 18 months, he said. But the schoolteacher said this year’s delay was unprecedented. “Before the pandemic, the items used to be distributed within two weeks of the schools opening for a new academic year. Distribution of everything, including of textbooks, was delayed this year.”
Though the remaining items in the kit have reached warehouses in a few places, distribution was yet to begin because officials were waiting for orders from higher-ups. They had initially been asked to wait so as to keep the distribution uniform across the State, said a school education department officer.
Delay in slipper/shoe distribution is hurting many schoolchildren in rural and hilly areas.
“Our physical education teacher demanded that we wear shoes. Because last year’s shoes didn’t fit me anymore and new shoes are yet to be distributed, I had to pester my parents for new shoes,” said a school student from Erode.
Quality of free items is also a concern. “Since items like uniforms and shoes are procured in large quantities without caring about sizes, they don’t fit many students. The school education department, as such, should procure these products locally,” said teachers. “Even the quality of bags, geometry boxes, and notebooks is poor,” said an official of the department in Pudukkottai.
Asked about the issue, the senior officer of the Textbook and Educational Services Corporation said: “The distribution is on at several places. We have called for tenders for next year now itself so that the distribution can begin in April.”
TN Textbook and Educational Services Corporation procures textbooks, atlas, notebooks, laptops, sanitary napkins, bicycles, geometry boxes, school uniforms, crayons, schoolbags, colour pencils, footwear and woollen sweaters for distribution to schoolchildren in different classes.