Beginning the new academic year, the Maharashtra state board students of classes 1 to 8 will get four sets of Balbharati textbooks comprising all subjects in term-wise pattern. Hence, students will have to take only one book to school for each term.
Books of individual subjects are also available in the market for students as there will be no change in syllabus in both versions.
“The process of combining books for classes 1 to 8 is on. There would be four books for each standard. Term-wise lessons of each subject will be combined in one book. For example, there would be five lessons of each subject in one textbook for the first term so the student needs to carry only that book to school. Accordingly, four books for four terms of the academic period. After every lesson, one blank page is provided to note down important points,” said Krishnakumar Patil, director, Balbharati-Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook Production and Curriculum Research, Pune.
State school education minister Deepak Kesarkar in September last year had announced about the experiment to combine all subjects into one textbook.
Though the state government is giving free textbooks to students in municipal corporations, zilla parishad and other government-run schools, many cannot afford to buy notebooks and depend on NGOs or social organisations. Hence, the state government has decided to combine textbook and notebook for the benefit of students.
{{/usCountry}}Though the state government is giving free textbooks to students in municipal corporations, zilla parishad and other government-run schools, many cannot afford to buy notebooks and depend on NGOs or social organisations. Hence, the state government has decided to combine textbook and notebook for the benefit of students.
{{/usCountry}}Kalpana Jambhale, a parent, said, “My son is a Class 4 student of Pune zilla parishad school and he carries a heavy bag containing textbooks and notebooks. The state government’s initiative of single textbook is a step in the right direction.”