Karachi: The fear of a shortage of textbooks in the upcoming educational session in Sindh has emerged. According to information, despite a significant increase in the cost of tender paper for the printing of free textbooks in government schools for the session 2024, no additional allocation has been made in the budget. This raises concerns that students in Sindh’s government schools may not have access to the required number of textbooks in the upcoming educational session 2024, which could directly impact their academic performance.
The Secretary of the Sindh Text Book Board published an advertisement in a local newspaper on February 22, announcing a budget of 2530 million rupees (approximately 2.53 billion rupees) for the printing, binding, and distribution of free books for the educational session 2024/25. The advertisement did not mention the exact number of books, and no increase in the budget was apparent, causing concerns that if the current situation persists due to the high price of paper, the textbook crisis in Sindh may continue in the educational session 2024/25.
Meanwhile, in a significant development, on February 22, Officer Abdul Aleem Lashari was appointed as the Chairman of the Sindh Text Book Board by the approval of the Sindh Chief Minister, replacing the current Chairman, Akhtar Hussain Bugti.
It should be noted that due to the timely provision of textbooks in Sindh, both schools and college students have been affected. A large number of students in Karachi failed in the recent Intermediate exams due to the unavailability of books, which was highlighted in the official report of the Sindh government’s Funding Committee.
The continuous crisis of shortage and timely availability of textbooks at the beginning of the session has been ongoing for several years in Sindh, and this crisis was at its peak during the commencement of the session when students in Sindh’s government schools faced a shortfall of up to 2 million textbooks for the initial four months.
After continuous delays, the printing of books has been initiated once again by the Sindh Text Book Board, with no increase in the budget allocated. The amount allocated is approximately 2.5 billion rupees, which is used for printing and distributing 3 crore textbooks, which were previously distributed for free to students in Sindh’s government schools. However, due to the increase in the value of the dollar, the cost of paper used for printing textbooks has skyrocketed, leading to an increase in the overall cost of printing and binding, making it challenging to provide books on time.
Even though the cost of materials such as card sheets and binding has increased significantly due to the rising cost of paper, the Education department of the Sindh government has not increased the budget for printing textbooks. The recent tender for printing books included the same quantity as last year, which is insufficient. This means that like last year, the required number of books may not reach schools on time for free distribution to students in government schools and private schools and colleges.