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BANGALORE: Today, the first monthly test for this academic year will commence in many schools. While they should have been preparing for their test by this time, many students have a reason not to study — they have no textbooks to study from.
Many private schools in the city are yet to get textbooks from the government. This year, the government is the sole agency to distribute textbooks to all schools in the state.The step was taken so that the government could save upon the commission that had to be given to the agencies.
For instance, this school at Mathikere has not got a single textbook for classes VII and IX. For classes VI and X, they have two and one book each. This is despite having placed the order and given the order by February 2010, the school officials told TOI.
Similarly, in S Cadambi Vidya Kendra High School, language books for the high school books are yet to be distributed. These schools are just sample cases. The teachers in these schools are finding it tough to take the classes. "For language subjects, textbooks are a must. The students need to look at the spellings and rhyme scheme. For core subjects, the teachers can somehow manage," said Vanajakshi H G, principal.
Some schools have borrowed textbooks from the senior students. But still there are students who still do not own textbooks. "They write down the complete chapter or poem in their notebook and go back home," said the teacher of a school in Bangalore South.
The schools are extra worried because class X is also involved.
OFFICIAL VERSION
"The textbooks for 90% of the government schools have been dispatched. As for the private schools, the High Court had extended the time frame for them to pay the DDs till May 31 as per their request. We had to wait for the DDs and then order the copies. We cannot order it batch by batch because it is difficult for the printers. They have heavy run machines that have to work in one go. Similarly, transportation charges also go up if they work that way. We have finished collecting the DDs by June 15 and have placed the order. The printers might take another ten days to print and another five days to dispatch. If we have to give textbooks faster, they should give DDs faster. We have dispatched it to 75% of private schools," said K R Shridhar, commissioner of public instruction.