Students await practical journals

Distribution by textbook board delayed for six months

LAHORE:

The Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board has failed to provide practical journals to thousands of students of matriculation in science across the province with only five months remaining before the annual exams.

Sources in the board no action had been taken by the provincial government against the delay of half a year in the distribution of the practical copies.

Around six months have passed since the academic year began in the province but the students of matriculation have not started their practical classes of science subjects because the board has not provided the related books to the government schools.

The students in all districts of Punjab are waiting for the practical copies with rising anxiousness over the delay.

"Practical exams of biology, chemistry and physics carry total 60 marks, which are important in the results of the science students. We especially focus on the practical teaching as the future of thousands of students who want to join the medical and engineering universities also depends on the marks in the practical exams,” said a schoolteacher, Bashir Ahmad, while speaking to The Express Tribune.

Every year, the schools receive he practical journals when the academic year begins, but now half the year has passed.

He said the students and their parents had relatedly enquired about the matter, but no government official had come up with a satisfactory explanation.

The teacher alleged that the textbook board had failed to distribute the journals because of mismanagement.

Earlier this year, the students received their textbooks after a delay of three months, but the same officials were serving on their posts despite the delay, he complained.

A senior official of the board said it was the responsibility of the Punjab Textbook Board to provide the practical copies to the students in time, but it had not happened. The problem had also been encountered regarding the textbooks.

He said even the education department appeared helpless to take action against the officials of the textbook board responsible for the delay.

A matric student, Riaz Amanat, said thousands of the school students in the remote districts were worried due to the unavailability of the practical books with a short time left to prepare for the exams.

“Earlier we sat in the classes without textbooks for several months and we are still struggling to cover the courses and now we do not have the practical books,” he added.

He said students were forced to get help of private academies for completing the course, but those from poor families could not afford this.

The student said the higher authorities should intervene to solve the problem.

Punjab Teachers Union secretary general Rana Liaqat Ali said the students could not understand the practical science topics without the journals prepared as per the curriculum and the teachers were helpless in their absence.

He said the schoolteachers were also currently protesting for their basic rights, but their priority was the students’ future.

He requested the government to play its role to provide the practical journals to the students at the earliest to save their future.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 17^th, 2023.