Textbooks to reach schools by month-end

The State syllabus textbooks, which were hitherto being supplied late, will be distributed to all schools in the district by May 31, Deputy Director of Public Instruction C. Chame Gowda has said. The schools are scheduled to reopen on May 28.

Mr. Gowda told The Hindu on Tuesday that the delay in supply used to occur owing to certain unavoidable printing and logistic problems across the State.

Listing out the requirements, he said there was a requirement of 9.87 lakh textbooks for the government and government-aided schools in the district. Of them, 7.86 lakh textbooks had already been distributed. These textbooks are distributed free of cost by the Government.

Private schools

Of the 5.27 lakh textbooks required for private schools, 2.67 lakh books had already been sold. The department had received Demand Drafts from 211 private schools for textbooks. Based on the receipt of payment, the printing orders had been placed and the books would be sent to the private schools on first-come first-served basis, Mr. Gowda said.

He said that printing of textbooks was going on across the State in full swing. “The demand will soon be met and students will be least inconvenienced this year,” he said.

He confirmed reports that several textbooks were lying in the department's storehouses without being distributed. “The problem is that several teachers and staff members are involved in the census work. This is causing a delay in distribution,” Mr. Gowda said.