Education dept to issue notices to five city schools for not using textbooks of affiliated boards in classes 1to 8
The state education department has cracked the whip on schools who have been forcing students to buy text books of private publishers. On Wednesday, five schools in the city were found to be teaching classes 1to 8 from textbooks by private publishers instead of those approved by the affiliated education boards.
The discrepancy came to light after the department asked district education officers and district primary education officers to check affiliation of schools in their jurisdiction.
Ahmedabad DPEO Mahesh Mehta said, “Ahmedabad International School, Tulip International School, Podar International School, Rangoli School and Divyapath School would be issued notices seeking explanation. We had asked the schools to submit affiliation papers and scrutiny revealed they were using textbooks of private publishers.“ The hearing of these schools has been scheduled on December 23.
A source within the DEO said, “A school cannot ask its students to purchase any private publication book, even for reference purposes. A teacher or school library can have these books but students cannot be asked to purchase them.“
Head of Ahmedabad International School Dr Tarulata said, “I have not received any notice from the DPEO so I will not be comment on the matter. But we have provided the affiliation documents to them.“ AIS teaches Gujarat board and Cambridge IGCSE syllabus. Meanwhile, Principal of The New Tulip International School Anjali Kwatra said using NCERT textbooks was impossible due to its poor standards. She said, “There is an all-time crises of NCERT textbooks and the quality of books is also poor. Also, we do not pick up textbooks of any random publication. We check for quality and authenticity of these books. These books cost between Rs 150 and Rs 175, which is not very costly. We put emphasis on quality of education.“ New Tulip follows CBSE curriculum.
Defending Podar School for using private textbooks, the principal Sreenarayana said that the CBSE board doesn’t insist on any specific books till class 8. The school teaches Cambridge syllabus. “It is only in class 9 and 10 that students have to be taught from NCERT textbooks. The school has the flexibility to choose textbooks which follows CBSE pattern till class 8.“
Principals of Divyapath School and Rangoli School were unavailable for comment.
In the meantime, parents feel cheated by the schools. A parent whose son goes to Podar School in Chandkheda said, “We pay a fee of Rs 60,000 per annum and an additional Rs 7,000 has to be spent on textbooks. These textbooks are rarely available at any book store and have to be purchased from the school. It is like a nexus between publisher and school.“
Ahmedabad City DEO Navneet Mehta said, “We suspect these schools tie up with private publications to make a profit. If that is the case, we will take strict action against these schools.“
State education minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama said that stringent action will be taken against schools teaching from textbooks by private publications.
Source – Ahmedabad Mirror – 22nd December 2016
