Students and Teachers express dissatisfaction over Odisha government decision to upload textbooks on the net

Updated on: Friday, April 19, 2013

The state government's decision to upload Class X books on the internet to meet the textbook crisis has not gone down well with students as well as teachers. They said it would not be possible for students in rural areas to download the entire book because of inadequate computer and internet facilities.

President of Odisha Secondary School Teachers' Association Indu Madhab Mohanty, said, "This (the decision to upload books on the internet) is an eyewash. Over 70% of our students are from rural areas and it is not possible for them to download books from the internet and study. In how many villages do we have computer and internet facilities? Besides, for many of them, downloading a book will be 10 times more expensive than buying textbooks. This is ridiculous."

More than 15 days have passed in the new academic session but students are yet to get new textbooks because they are not available in the market. The parents alleged black marketing and largescale corruption in distribution of books.

The Board of Secondary Education ( BSE) has been authorized to design the syllabus and print textbooks. The board has introduced 17 new titles this year for about four lakh students across the state.

"Since the text books were revised this year, the old books are no longer of any use. We would have covered a major part of the syllabus during the summer vacation but because of non-availability of textbooks, our time is being wasted," said Piyush Panda, a Class X student of Capital High School.

School and mass education minister Rabi Narayan Nanda said all books would be available by April 25. "Uploading books on the internet is only a temporary solution. By April 25, all Class X students will get hardcopies of the textbooks," Nanda added.

Jogendra Sahu, a parent said, "While the government has fixed the prices of a set of 10 books at Rs 255, it is available in the market between Rs 450 and Rs 500. The government should first take steps to stop the black marketing."

Students and Teachers express dissatisfaction over Odisha government decision to upload textbooks on the net

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