Gurugram: Half of session over, but government school students still await textbooks

This gap persists even though the Haryana Education Department issued directives on October 9 instructing all districts to ensure that NCERT textbooks for the current academic session are distributed to students without delay.

Despite more than half of the academic session having passed, students in Gurugram’s government schools are still without essential NCERT textbooks, with teachers alleging that at least 3,000 sets of textbooks are missing this year.

According to Gurugram’s teachers union, at least ten students in the primary wing in almost every school lack textbooks. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

This gap persists even though the Haryana Education Department issued directives on October 9 instructing all districts to ensure that NCERT textbooks for the current academic session are distributed to students without delay. Officials in the Gurugram education department have expressed concern, noting that there are no surplus textbooks available to address the continuing shortages in government schools across the city.

According to Gurugram’s teachers union, there are at least 100 government primary schools in Gurugram and at least ten students in the primary wing in almost every school lack textbooks.

Teachers said the absence of textbooks has particularly affected learning in foundational subjects, making it difficult to complete the syllabus on time. “This is a huge challenge for students in classes 1 to 5. Many of their workbooks require answers to be written directly in the book. Old books cannot be reused because they are already filled,” said Dushyant Thakran, a teacher at Government Primary School, Sushant Lok B-1.

“If two students share a book, the quicker one ends up writing all the answers, and we cannot assess whether the other child has understood the concept,” Thakran said. “Not everyone has access to e-books at home, while others are forced to look at mobile screens for long periods after school.”

“For many students, writing alphabets and solving mathematics problems in the workbooks is crucial. How can we expect students to learn a new concept while sharing books with other students?” asked Pinky Rani, primary school teacher.

Ashok Prajapati, district president of Rajkiya Prathmik Shikshak Sangh, said, “This is not the first time this has happened. We have been witnessing this almost every year. But this time, the numbers were high. We do not expect students to receive textbooks this year, but we urge the department to take effective measures for the next session so that such challenges are not repeated. After all, it concerns the future of our children.”

“The teachers union had earlier also flagged the issue in the beginning of the academic session this year. Some sets were distributed, however they were either incomplete or books with old syllabus,” said Prajapati.

Shreya Yadav, a Grade 2 student, said, “I don’t have a Mathematics textbook. All my friends got one, but I didn’t. I share it with my desk partner, but sometimes she writes the answers, because it is her book.”

Earlier, on October 10, HT reported that senior officials in the education department had shared that there were no surplus books available at the block level. “We have already submitted a list of schools who need textbooks. The solution now needs to come from the district level,” shared an official, requesting anonymity.

When contacted, district education officer Saroj Dahiya said the department is aware of the situation. “The supply of books is based on the number of admissions recorded in the previous academic year, with an additional 10% added to meet current requirements. This year, admissions exceeded expectations, which has contributed to the shortage,” she said.

“Some schools don’t provide the demand data correctly, this also leads to shortage of textbooks,” said Dahiya.

When asked whether students could expect to receive their textbooks and workbooks before the year ends, in time for final examination prearations, Dahiya said she was unable to comment on the matter.