Hyderabad Govt Schools Will Receive Textbooks After Lockdown

Before the start of the new academic year, 2021-22 the Telangana School Education Department is making arrangements for the delivery of textbooks to students in government schools.

As per reports, 40 percent of the 1.42 crore textbooks necessary for government institutions from Classes I to X have already arrived at the district headquarters. These textbooks would be supplied to Mandal Education Offices and then to school points, depending on the requirements.

According to the department's statistics, 59,26,253 students were enrolled in 40,898 schools across the state last year. There were 32,37,448 students in 10,763 private schools and 26,88,805 in 30,135 government schools. The State government distributes free textbooks to students in government and residential schools every year. This year, textbooks from grades VI through X would also include QR codes.

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Students would receive information in addition to videos and photos linked to the particular subject by scanning these QR codes on their smartphones. This would aid students in comprehending lessons in a better way. These QR codes were previously printed on a few textbooks as part of a test initiative.

Apart from that, the department has devised a barcoding method to prevent inconsistencies in the distribution of free textbooks. These bar codes would aid in determining textbook distribution per school. "Around 40% of the free component textbooks have already arrived in districts, with the remaining textbooks in various stages of printing. By the end of the month, we hope to have completed the entire procedure. The textbooks will be distributed after the lockdown is lifted, said a senior department official.

Meanwhile, several private printers have applied to the government for permission to market textbooks from the previous year. For the academic year 2020-21, private printers printed around 35 lakh textbooks.

However, the Covid-19 epidemic resulted in the sale of around 17 lakh textbooks. "Private printers have applied for authorization to market textbooks that were unsold the previous year. We have written to the government about it, "said a senior official.