Telangana: Shortage of textbooks riles govt schools

Hyderabad: The shortage of textbooks has been plaguing the government schools for the last many years. Now ahead of starting of new academic year, teachers in some of the government schools have even borrowed books from the passed out students and distributed among the students.

Though there has been a remarkable increase in the enrolment of students in government schools across the State, the printing of textbooks has remained low. For 2021-22 academic year, the department had printed just 1.43 crore textbooks, which were not sufficient.

There would be a real crisis in schools if the government fails to print the adequate number of textbooks needed for the next academic year. Further, it would be a challenge for the department as it has to print English books simultaneously, as the government has decided to introduce English medium in all government schools, alleged the government school teachers.

Shyam Sunder, headmaster of Government High School, Borabanda said, "Printing of textbooks and workbooks gets completed by the last week of April or by the first week of May. But during last September, all government schools saw a manifold increase in admissions as many students from private schools joined. The government has sent textbooks as per the previous year strength. Also it did not try to reprint books anticipating that may be the students will again shift to private schools. In our school, we have somehow managed by sharing notes in PDF format on the WhatsApp group, but not many students have electronic gadgets." Observed Ravi, a government school teacher from Secunderabad,"Only a month is left for this current academic year to end. Many students in our schools are not having textbooks. They are facing hardship due to shortage of textbooks. We are trying to provide some notes in the form of photocopies,"

Chava Ravi of the Telangana State United Teachers' Federation (TSUTF) said, "Students' strength in government schools has drastically increased. However, the Education department has not planned properly to print books accordingly.

We have many times complained to officials concerned to print books, but all fell on deaf ears. We have somehow managed by arranging used books. But, there are many students who don't have books. As the final exam is approaching, many students are struggling. At least for the next academic year, the department should plan accordingly and print adequate number of books."