Shortage of textbooks

Shortage of textbooks is affecting the students in government and private schools in Jammu and Kashmir. The books are being supplied by Board of School Education (BOSE). Three weeks have passed since the new academic session started in the schools, but the students are yet to get all the textbooks.

Reports say the parents are running from pillar to post to get the books for their school children, but without any success. For last several years this was a common problem in government schools. The students would not get the textbooks in time due to the shortage.

Some times they would get the books after the mid session and sometimes during examination times. But the issue was not getting highlighted to the scale it is now. As this year the BOSE directed the private schools, affiliated with it, to use only BOSE prescribed books. While the directions were given, the textbooks were not made available.

Subsequently, the students of both the government and private schools are suffering this time. This has put the children to mental stress. The parents are not sure whether all the books will be available immediately or not to their kids.

If not the studies of children would suffer further. The BOSE must take the issue very seriously and must not adopt a casual approach. Education is a very important sector and needs to be handled very seriously and responsibly by the concerned authorities. The education sector should not suffer due to ill-planning or ill-execution of the plans by the concerned officials.

If BOSE has decided that only its prescribed books have to be used in government and private schools then make the books available. Take all necessary steps well in time. Do not make the school children suffer. BOSE should have learnt lessons from its experience of last few years when it was unable to provide all books in time to the students in government schools.

Necessary corrective measures should have been taken. This year when BOSE asked the private schools also to use its books, the efforts should have been redoubled to minimise chances of book shortage. But this has not been done.

Secondly, the demand of the parents for quality and updated books for their children should not be ignored. The kids must get quality and updated textbooks also.