A delay is likely in the printing and supply of textbooks to school children in Karnataka for the 2024-25 academic year as the Textbook Revision Committee, headed by Manjunath G. Hegade, is yet to submit its report to the State Government.
From the next academic year, steps have been taken to provide two books per year, divided into two parts — (Summative Assessment) SA-1 and SA-2. The Karnataka Text Book Society (KTBS) has to print about 12 crore textbooks. The delay in submission of the textbook revision committee report will delay the printing of textbooks.
In September 2023, the State Government appointed the committee to re-examine the textbooks revised by the earlier committee headed by Rohit Chakratheertha in 2022-23.
The committee said it would submit a report to the government by the end of January, 2024. However, the committee is yet to submit its report.
Sources in the Department of School Education and Literacy said that the unavailability of the Minister is the main reason for the delay in submission of the report. “The committee has decided to submit the report to the minister concerned. However, as the minister is not available in his Bengaluru office since many days, the submission of the report is getting delayed. The budget session will start on February 12, and the report may be submitted at that time,” sources said.
Delay in printing textbooks
To reduce the burden of school bags, the State Government has decided to divide the textbooks into two parts — SA-1 and SA-2 — from the year 2024-25.
The KTBS has planned to print around 12.79 crore textbooks from classes 1 to 10 with a total of 984 titles. When the textbooks of about 120 pages are divided into SA-1 and SA-2, it is estimated that an additional 8 to 10 pages should be printed for each textbook, including the cover page. During 2023-24, around 6.39 crore text books were printed and supplied out of a total of 562 titles.
Tender rules for textbook printing are strict. Piece tender cannot be given for printing of textbooks. Also, all textbooks should be printed in the same publishing house. The tender process will be finalised after completion of other assessment, including quality of paper used for printing of text books. It takes at least 90 to 120 days to print such a large volume of text books. So, the department would finalise the tender process by the end of February and start the printing in March to ensure that the textbooks reach the children by June. Last year, the department had supplied textbooks to all schools by the end of May.
Prof. Hegade, Chairman, Textbook Revision Committee, told The Hindu, “Due to various reasons, submission of the textbook revision committee report has been slightly delayed. The report is ready, and will be submitted to the government next week.”
An official of KTBS said, “After the committee submits its report to the government, the report will be examined at the government level. The government then puts the report in the public domain and sets aside 15 days for submission of objections from the public. Then, this report should be approved at the government level, and approval for printing of text books should be given. All these processes should be completed by the end of March at least. Only after this, the KTBS should call for tender and issue the work order for printing of text books. This time SA-1 and S-2 textbooks have to be printed. So, at least four months are required to print. So, the availability of textbooks is doubtful even by July.”
