Two months into new session, textbooks yet to reach govt schools in Ludhiana

Board’s depot in Ludhiana, which caters to the whole district received books of 27 subjects out of 107

Poor PSEB results of government schools not withstanding, even the new academic session has started on a wrong note. Two months on, students of some classes are yet to receive textbooks of major subjects such as mathematics, science, English and Punjabi.

Ludhiana SSA office has demanded 16 lakh textbooks. (HT Representative Image)

The board’s depot in the city, which caters to the whole district, has received textbooks for only 27 subjects out of 107. Sources at the depot said they dispatched all the textbooks they received so far. The Ludhiana office of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has demanded 16 lakh textbooks.

These books are provided free of cost to all students from Classes 6 to 8 and to those under SC/ST and BC categories in Classes 9 and 10.

Textbooks of Punjabi Parvesh has reached students of Class 1. For Class 2, schools have received two textbooks — Reader English and Reader Hindi. However, textbooks of mathematics and Punjabi have not arrived so far.

The situation is no different in other classes. For Class 3, none of the government schools has received any new textbook. The depot is yet to receive any textbook for this class. Government schools offer four subjects in Class 3 — Punjabi, English, mathematics and environmental sciences (EVS).

“We are yet to receive textbooks of Punjabi, mathematics and EVS for Classes 4 and 5; mathematics, science, social studies and Hindi for Classes 6, 7 and 8,” said Sukhwinder Singh, a government school teacher.

Another teacher, Simmi Chawla, said, “It is difficult to teach students in the absence of textbooks.

Though different reasons have been attributed to the poor results of government schools, including lack of staff and infrastructure, the board is yet to wake from its slumber as books constitute one of the basics of school education.