Timely distribution of textbooks demanded

Itagar, April 6: The All Papum Pare District Students’ Union (APPDSU) has demanded that the school textbooks should be procured directly from the NCERT and the CBSE agency in order to avoid unnecessary expenditure. 

The union submitted the RTI documents collected from the Elementary and Secondary Education director to Education Minister Honchun Ngandam in his office chamber here.

Citing the documents, which cover the period between 2007 and 2008, the union accused the Education department and the State Government of neglecting the school students of Aruchal Pradesh by not regularly distributing textbooks since 2007-18.

The union demanded that the government keeps special fund provision for advance procurement of the textbooks, so that the Education department does not delay in placing orders. It informed the Minister that textbooks reach schools only in the middle or end of the academic sessions, and the subject textbooks are not distributed equitably among the districts.

It said the State government should ensure timely release of fund to the Education department for procuring textbooks, so that the department may procure them directly from the NCERT and the CBSE agency. The union also demanded that the Minister initiates actions against all the private firms and suppliers and the DDSEs responsible for the ‘textbook scandal’ in the State.

The APPDSU claimed in a press release that the Minister gave assurances that the elementary and secondary education textbooks would be procured directly from the NCERT and the CBSE agency from this year onwards, and that no firm or contractor would be hired by the Education department.