Karachi schools hit by textbook shortage despite delay in academic term

Urdu Bazaar Traders say 30%-40% of textbooks missing after session delayed from April to August in Karachi.

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The Urdu Bazaar Traders Association has said that despite a two-and-a-half-month delay in the start of the academic session, textbooks are still largely unavailable in Karachi's markets.

During a press conference, association officials, including Sajid Yousuf, Hussain Abbas, Ali Muhammad Awan, Nadeem Akhtar, and Farhan Kaghzi, reported that 30% to 40% of textbooks are missing from the market.

They highlighted the unavailability of key textbooks such as 10th-grade mathematics, 5th-grade Urdu, chemistry and physics for grades 9 to 12, and English for 10th grade.

Notably, computer science books for grades 9 and 10 have been unavailable for the past six months, and biology textbooks for grades 11 and 12 are also missing.

Hussain Abbas, General Secretary of the Urdu Bazaar Traders Association, noted that an 18% to 20% tax on stationery items was imposed after the budget had further burdened parents.

He called for the immediate formation of a committee to address these issues.

Sajid Yousuf, Chairman of the Urdu Bazaar Traders Association Sindh, noted, "Over 15 million students are enrolled in private and public educational institutions across the province".

He attributed the delayed start of the academic year, which began in August instead of April, to delays in textbook printing.

Yousuf criticized the Sindh Textbook Board authorities and publishers for their incompetence and greed, which he said led to late publication of textbooks last year as well, resulting in some students failing their intermediate exams.

Farhan Kaghzi highlighted the difficulties faced by parents, stating, "Parents are making repeated trips to Urdu Bazaar, but they are unable to find complete sets of textbooks".

He urged that the academic year start on April 1 instead of August, and called for the printing of textbooks for the next year to begin immediately to ensure timely availability.

"The contract for printing textbooks should not be given to one publisher alone but should be limited to 20,000 copies per publisher to avoid monopolization," Kaghzi proposed.