NCERT books elude students

ACADEMIC SESSION  of all the schools recognised by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) in  the city has started  since April. However the NCERT  books of different subjects for various classes are not available in market.

Due to change in the syllabus, new books in science, maths, social studies and history have been recommended for Classes I, III, VI, IX and XI. Principals of schools say despite repeated reminders to the NCERT the books are not being made available to students on time thereby hampering the teaching work.

Sources said the difficulty has arisen due to changes made in the syllabus by the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development just before starting of the academic session. Sources at CBSE said that the wholesalers of each region were allotted specific dates for the collection of their stocks by NCERT following which the books were made available through retailers and other book stores.

Ravindra, a book supplier, blamed gross mismanagement in NCERT for the delay in publishing and supply of books. Some books were issued to booksellers in April.

But the limited stock was sold out within a few weeks. Now parents are being forced to take a round of book shops daily in search of the required books.

Principal of a Central School RP  Sharma said teaching was badly affected because of non-availability of books. He said that he had anticipated the problem in April itself and had therefore told the students to purchase books at the earliest.

Ravi Kumar, whose children are studying in CBSE recognised school, said that the Board keeps changing the syllabus every year but it did not ensure availability of books before  the new session begins. Neeta, a teacher at Jagat Taran Golden Jubilee School, said that they have not been able to keep pace with the teaching because of lack of books. NCERT had changed CBSE syllabus from class I to XII for the session 2006-07.