Summer vacation nears end, but wait for books by Ambala govt school students continues

Nitish Sharma

Ambala, June 28

Summer break is about to end, but the wait for textbooks for students of Classes I to VIII studying in government schools in the district is still on. In Ambala, over 57,800 students are enrolled in Class I to VIII.

Only soft copies of workbooks available

To cover academic loss due to Covid, the Edu Dept started a remedial programme for Classes I to III, for which special workbooks were prepared. Soft copies were made available, hard ones are yet to arrive. A teacher

Delivery between July 10 and 15

Books for students of Classes I to VIII are yet to arrive. I’ve talked to the supplier and he assured me that books will be delivered to all 771 govt schools in the district between July 10 and 15. Sudhir Kalra, DEO, Ambala

A teacher of a government school in Ambala-II block said: “Students have already suffered academic loss due to Covid. To cover up the loss, the Education Department started a remedial programme, Foundational Literacy and Numeracy, for students of Classes I to III, for which special workbooks were prepared. While the soft copies of the workbooks were made available, the hard ones are yet to arrive.”

“A similar situation is being faced with the UDAAN remedial programme for Classes IV to VIII. Non-availability of teaching material and practice workbook is a major obstacle in teaching in government schools,” she added.

Another teacher said: “So far, we have been getting by with old books, but such mismanagement can be avoided with proper planning. The department should ensure that new and updated textbooks reach the schools before the commencement of the academic session.”

The academic session started in April and the schools will resume classes from July 1 after summer vacation. Free books are provided by the department to the students of Classes I to VIII.

Though the change in the syllabus is being attributed as the major reason behind the delay, this is not the first time when there is a delay in the distribution of books.

A lack of coordination between the officials concerned and delay in placing the order are also being cited as reasons behind the delay in the arrival of books.

Teachers said the order for the books should have been placed by December so that books were published in time and delivered to the schools before the commencement of new session.

Meanwhile, Ambala DEO Sudhir Kalra said: “Books for students of Classes I to VIII are yet to arrive. I have talked to the supplier and he has assured me that books will be delivered to all 771 government schools in the district between July 10 and 15.”

“Efforts are being made by the department to plug in the learning loss gaps. The department had launched the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy programme for students of Classes I to III and UDAAN programme for Classes IV to VIII to mitigate the learning gaps that have emerged due to the closure of schools during Covid.”