Students in classes up to 8th are facing a shortage of textbooks in Haryana-based government schools, specifically those in the Jhajjar district. A mega parent-teacher meet had received over 53,000 concerns from parents over the shortage of textbooks.

Textbooks for students have been so far provided by the government schools for free under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, however, this time, the Department of School and Education has decided to give monetary aid to students for purchasing books. The decision comes in the wake of the department’s inability to get the books printed due to the pandemic.

Nodal officer of the Saksham Programme, Dr Sudarshan Punia was quoted as saying by The Tribune that the process of framing the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) under the new education policy was still underway and new books will be designed and published on the basis of NCF. Till then, students will be provided with aid to buy books from the market

The Tribune report said that the funds haven’t been released even after four months of commencement of the classes. The department, in May, had directed its district-level officials to conduct a book exchange programme so that the students could at least get old books to study.

There are students who have benefited from the book exchange programme, there is still a large number of students who are yet to receive the books. The books are still not available in the market and when the parents got a chance to voice their concerns, they presented the issue in front of the officials.

The report further addressed the issue of slow internet and non-availability of smartphones, especially in rural areas. It stated that the unavailability of smartphones was adversely affecting the studies and most of the parents were in favour of opening physical classes soon.

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