Winter break turns unproductive for Kashmir students

Srinagar, Jan 10: The students across Kashmir have been left idle during winter vacations amid the non-availability of textbooks.

In the past, the winter vacation period announced from December to February used to be utilised by the students productively as they would get engaged in their studies in advance.However, this winter, due to the unavailability of textbooks, students are sitting idle at home, becoming a concern for the parents.

“During previous years, the students used to utilise the time in doing home assignments or preparing for annual exams (when the session was shifted to March),” said Muhammad Aslam Hajjam, a parent from Baramulla.

The parents said that the non-availability of textbooks was adversely impacting the students.

The J&K Board of School Education (BOSE) prescribed textbooks are still missing from the market, which is taking a toll on the students as they are not able to engage themselves in academic activities during the break.

"We keep visiting the bookshops to inquire about the textbooks but the booksellers are yet to receive the supply. This year, the winter break for children got completely wasted,” the parents said.

Amid the non-availability of BOSE-prescribed textbooks, various private schools have started prescribing textbooks from private publishers to students, leaving parents in a state of dilemma.

Last year, the School Education Department (SED) ordered the private schools to refrain from prescribing textbooks of private publishers and adopt BOSE textbooks up to class 12th.

However, the Education Department has miserably failed to ensure a timely supply of textbooks in the market.

On January 4, the Director of School Education Kashmir asked the private schools to upload the list of textbooks on their website within three days.

However, as per the reports, the directions have seen poor implementation as the schools have not uploaded the list of textbooks from private publishers prescribed by the schools.

Joint Secretary Publications (Textbooks) in BOSE, Sanjeev Goswami told Greater Kashmir that some of the textbooks were available in the market.

“It is an ongoing process and we will ensure that the textbooks are made available by the end of January,” he said.