Ludhiana: Weeks on, government school students without books

According to officials, the delay in distribution was triggered by a dispute between the Punjabi Sahit Akademi and the PSEB over rental terms and maintenance of the board’s regional office at Punjabi Bhawan; issue has been resolved, and the books are now arriving at Punjabi Bhawan, officials added

Nearly a month into the new academic session, students at government schools are still waiting for their textbooks. Despite a requirement of nearly 21 lakh books, only around 15 lakhs have been made available so far, leaving many children without essential learning material.

Six lakh books are yet to be distributed to the students. (HT File)

Teachers and principals have raised the alarm, fearing the delay may affect student learning, classroom progress and even enrollments.

Jagjit Singh Mann, district president of the Government Teachers’ Union (GTU), said, “There are still entire subjects for which books haven’t arrived. Teachers keep making repeated rounds to get the books. This should be sorted at the start of the session with block-wise counts.”

Charanjeet Kaur Ahuja, principal of Government Senior Secondary School, Cemetery Road, said Class 1 students had got only one subject’s book so far. A teacher from School of Eminence, Model Town, also pointed out that Punjabi textbooks for senior secondary classes are yet to reach schools.

Although some schools maintain book banks, teachers say these are no longer enough. “Students expect fresh books at the start of the year. But many pass-outs don’t return their books, affecting studies,” said a teacher.

Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) superintendent Manish Kumar said 14.5 lakh books had been distributed and the pending books would reach the schools by the end of May. Regarding the delay, he said the books were earlier sent to Khanna and then brought to Ludhiana before being distributed. “Now, the system has changed. Books are stored directly in Ludhiana and then delivered to different blocks,” he said.

According to officials, the delay in distribution was triggered by a dispute between the Punjabi Sahit Akademi and the PSEB over rental terms and maintenance of the board’s regional office at Punjabi Bhawan. Due to this, books were earlier stored at a government senior secondary school in Khanna. The issue has been resolved, and the books are now arriving at Punjabi Bhawan, officials added.