Poor planning : Free textbooks’ scarcity perturbs students, teachers

The secondary school year in Sindh is nearly halfway through but some government schools’ students are yet to receive their free textbooks, which jeopardises their chances of passing the examinations to be held in the upcoming year.

Given the textbook scarcity, some students have stopped attending school altogether, which has distressed teachers and school principals alike. One such Headmaster is Masood Al Hasan, who heads the Government Boys Secondary School, Qasba Colony, Orangi Town. “The number of students enrolled far exceeds the textbooks we have received this year. Consequently, many of my students have stopped showing up because they cannot afford to buy the books from the market,” Hasan lamented, adding that even the books they had received were not in a satisfactory condition.

Mohammad Khursheed, Headmaster of the Ebrahim Ali Bhai Government Boys Secondary School, FB Area Block-10, is similarly concerned for his students. “Majority of the textbook scarcity is for grades 9 and 10. If the students do not get their books, how can we expect them to pass the examinations to be held in May?” he questioned. Khursheed further said that apart from the scarcity, the language of the books provided was an issue as well. “Some of my students want their science books to be in English but we have not been given any. Therefore, they have stopped coming to class as they are not interested in studying science in Urdu,” the Headmaster explained. Since the Sindh Textbook Board is responsible for the provision of books across the province, the Express Tribune asked the Chairman of Board, Agha Sohail, about the scarcity.

“The main issue is that we never received proper enrollment numbers. The other issue is that most of the textbooks have not properly been distributed and are still languishing inside warehouses,” explained Sohail. He said that the school education department was responsible for deliveries and had not not done their job properly. “Schools which have not received their textbooks should contact me. They will receive their books directly from the Board,” Sohail assured. However, data obtained from sources within the provincial schools department, paints a different picture. This year 22 warehouses across the province, which house secondary school books, received a total of 811,000 books out of which 809,000 have been distributed - only 2,539 books have not been distributed. Furthermore, the shortfall of books stands at 294,000 - which were never sent to the warehouses.

Director of School Education, for Secondary and Higher Secondary, Karachi, confirming the numbers said that they had fulfilled their responsibility of delivering the books. “The only titles we have in the warehouses are those that are no longer required in schools. We have already informed the relevant departments about the actual shortage,” the Director informed while talking to The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2022.