The state education department has directed that all undistributed textbooks for grades 9 to 12 be sold as scrap by government and grant-in-aid schools.
The Gujarat State School Textbook Board (GSSTB) distributes textbooks for free, but for various reasons, many schools are unable to distribute all of them, according to education department sources.
“There have been instances in the past where school officials attempted to swindle money by selling unsold books. To avoid such incidents in the future, schools have been asked to sell them as waste and record the proceeds in their school accounts “according to sources
GSSTB has decided to begin the distribution of school textbooks early in 2022-23. The massive exercise entails reaching out to 1.25 crore students ranging from Grade 1 to Grade 12. The decision was made after many schools and students complained that textbooks had not arrived months after the current academic year began in July.
Approximately 30,000 tonnes of paper will be used to print 8.5 crore textbooks for students in grades 1 through 12.
“A total of 1,480 textbooks will be printed under various titles, catering to different levels beginning with Class 1, in different languages for various subjects,” according to sources.
The state education department failed to deliver textbooks to approximately 30,000 schools in the state in July, forcing them to cancel Class 6 to Class 8 unit test papers for social studies.
The department, which had previously stated that they would deliver textbooks to people’s homes, was admonished for failing to deliver books even to schools on time.