Ludhiana | Schools directed to update data on textbooks on e-Punjab portal

Ludhiana district education officer Jaswinder Kaur, in her recent order, sought explanation from school heads and principals who did not update the details regarding the distribution of textbooks on the e-Punjab portal

With students of a few government schools still awaiting textbooks, the local education department has directed all schools to update data pertaining to the pendency of books on e-Punjab portal.

However, the DEO held meetings with the schools heads and principals of schools on August 26, who still showed pendency of the textbooks in their respective schools on e-Punjab portal. (HT FILE)

District education officer Jaswinder Kaur, in her recent order, sought explanation from school heads and principals who did not update the details regarding the distribution of textbooks on the education portal.

“Schools need to make sure that they upload the details of all students who have received the textbooks from the department. Many schools are yet to update their data on the portal despite repeated orders,” Kaur said.

According to a senior officer in the department, mostly all schools have been provided with adequate books for students, except a few students who took late admissions.

“ Since many students didn’t turn up to schools eventually or are long absentees didn’t receive the books sent for them and thus, some schools have surplus books too. Despite having additional books, schools didn’t update their data on the portal and thus, were strictly ordered to adhere with the instructions at the earliest,” said a senior officer in the department.

“A few students in my school are yet to get the complete set of books, but the department now wants us to show nil pendency on the portal”, a school head said.

However, the DEO held meetings with the schools heads and principals of schools on August 26, who still showed pendency of the books in their respective schools on the online portal.

Principals were summoned to explain in-person the reasons behind not updating the data.

Earlier, Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) had landed in a soup due to the shortage of paper to print textbooks after the vendor for the board refused to continue its services, citing non-clearance of previous bills. A meeting of education officers regarding the same was held earlier this month in SAS Nagar to resolve the issue.

Moreover, the board conducted bimonthly PSEB exams of Class 6 to 12 in August even when many students were yet to receive the books.

A teacher, on the condition of anonymity, said students had performed poorly in their Class 10 exams in the absence of books.