Maharashtra education department initiates pilot project for reusing school textbooks

In a bid to encourage students to ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ the Maharashtra education department has started a pilot project of passing on the textbooks of students

In a bid to encourage students to ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ the Maharashtra education department has started a pilot project of passing on the textbooks of students from one batch to another through schools.

The used textbooks will be shared with other students. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

In a circular issued on Thursday, the department stated that the move aimed at creating awareness about reusing textbooks among students, and thereby reducing the use of paper and saving the environment.

“Students who study under schools wherein free textbooks are distributed under the government’s Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan are urged to deposit their old textbooks (for the year 2019-20 or 2020-21) to the school. These books can then be passed on to the students in the following year,” stated the circular.

Officials from the state education department said the initiative will first be tested on pilot basis, and can be expanded further after gauging the interest of students and parents.

Applauding the move, a civic school teacher from Mumbai’s eastern suburbs, said, “Such a programme will also encourage children to use their textbooks well to make sure they remain good enough for other students to use in the coming years.”

Once parents deposit textbooks in schools, the institutes will then send the data of such books to the education officers, following which a detailed report on the response will be collated.

Every year, the government spends around over Rs200 crore for printing new textbooks under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan. Under the initiative, the state distributes free textbooks to Class 1 to Class 8 students of aided and government run schools. If students reuse their textbooks, the government hopes that these costs can also be saved.