Students and their harried parents are running virtually from pillar to post to buy textbooks for the new academic year that started three weeks ago on April 1.
The non-availability of prescribed books in the government schools of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) remains unaddressed as parents and students are roaming from one bookshop to another in search of textbooks after failure of the concerned authorities to ensure their supply.
The new academic year started on April 1 and the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) and National Book Foundation (NBF) have yet to ensure the availability of the required textbooks.
“I have visited almost all the book shops to buy a book of computer science for eight class, but all in vain,” said Asad Hameed, a resident of G-9. He added that government should ensure the availability of the books well in time to avoid wastage of precious time of students.
On the other hand, high-ups at FDE and NBF claimed that most of the textbooks have already been supplied to the schools and would be distributed shortly.
They ascribed the delay to the stay order obtained by some publishers against the directives of the education ministry for purchasing books directly from Punjab Text Book Board.
On the other hand, devolution of the education ministry and the frequent transfers of the Director Generals (DGs) of Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) is also being termed as one of the reasons behind this administrative lapse.
When contacted, the incumbent FDE Director-General Chaudhry Mohammad Nazir, who is holding the slot temporarily, said the issue of textbook created by some publishers would be soon resolved and distribution will be completed by May 5.
NBF Managing Director Mazharul Islam said that there was no shortage of textbooks produced by the foundation.
Aftab Soomro, Deputy Director of NBF, said that the foundation has a stock of some textbooks and the remaining were being printed and will be supplied to the market by May 5. He also held the earlier decision by the government to merge the NEF with some other department responsible for the delay in the timely supply of books.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 24th, 2011.
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