Textbooks run out ahead of new school year

KARACHI:

Even with educational institutions set to reopen from September 15 in Sindh, there is a shortage of course books for classes 9 and 10, mostly for private school students, as well as intermediate textbooks, The Express Tribune learnt on Saturday.

According to vendors in Urdu Bazaar, no intermediate textbooks are available in the market. "We are now mulling putting up notices announcing the non-availability of course books," said one among them.

"And, for classes 9 and 10, textbooks for only Pakistan Studies and Sindhi are available," Urdu Bazaar Association president Suleman Jiwani told The Express Tribune. Confirming the unavailability of any intermediate textbooks, he said Urdu textbooks for classes 6 and 7 had also not been supplied.

The responsibility to ensure the timely publishing and availability of textbooks in markets before the academic year's onset lies with the Sindh Textbook Board (STBB), a subsidiary of the school education department.

"This time around, the STBB had three additional months to complete the publishing and supply of textbooks, since schools remained closed for six months due to Covid-19 [pandemic]. But it still failed," complained Jiwani.

Apart from schools following the Cambridge Assessment International Education board, class 9 and 10 students in over 80 per cent of private schools in Sindh - over 10,000 schools - are taught the STBB syllabi.

However, when these students and their parents are visiting markets to buy books for the new academic session after a half-year closure of schools, they are forced to return disappointed and empty-handed.

"First we were told of a change in the scheme of studies [for grades 9 and 10] due to which we will have to study all [science] subjects in ninth grade as well, then they introduced a new syllabus for computer science and now, no books are available to us," said an exasperated student, Batool Fatima, complaining of multiple academic changes made this year.

According to a teacher, who asked not to be named, only a 163-page draft for the new computer science textbook has been prepared by relevant authorities, a PDF copy of which is available on the internet. The same is the case for the biology textbook, he said, adding that teachers had asked students to get themselves printed copies of the PDF files if the textbooks remained unavailable.

In a bid to streamline the curriculum, Sindh's school education department had approved a new, province-wide scheme of studies for grade 9 and 10 students in January. Based on the Sindh High Court's decision, the new system will equally bifurcate all the science subjects into two years in line with the national scheme of studies. Earlier, half of the science subjects were taught to students in class nine and half of them in class 10.

Hence, new science textbooks for grade 9 need to be composed and published. The task, however, remains in limbo.

Besides, the free distribution of textbooks in government schools has reportedly not been completed. According to sources in the education department, who requested anonymity, public schools in at least three districts of Karachi alone are yet to receive free course material.

As per sources in the school education department, textbooks for students in classes 6 to 10 had not been provided to government-run public schools in East, West and Malir districts until Friday morning, while campus schools - housing both primary and secondary classes - had not been supplied course books for classes 1 to 10 in the said districts. It was also reported that new computer science textbooks, the syllabus for which was upgraded, had not been supplied to any schools in Karachi.

On the other hand, when The Express Tribune approached acting school education (secondary) director Syed Rasool Bux Shah on the matter, he claimed that according the report available to him, the process of free distribution of textbooks in schools had been completed.

It has been reported that though dispatched, the textbooks remain in district education offices and were not supplied to schools in the said districts.

This is despite STBB chairperson Ahmed Bux Narejo also serving as the Sindh school education secretary. He remained unavailable to comment on the matter.

There are 110 government-run secondary schools in West district, 100 in East district and 80 in Malir district. Moreover, around 200,000 students are enrolled in government secondary schools in Karachi, all of whom are now facing the unavailability of textbooks.

In-class sessions for class 9 and higher grades will be commencing across Sindh from Tuesday.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, Septe0mber 13^th, 2020.