-Reshma Ravishanker

Nearly two months into the commencement of offline classes in state board schools across Karnataka, just 54.74 % students have received textbooks so far according to data released by the department of public instruction.

The official statistics released by the government indicates that schools across the state have placed an order for 5.34 crore copies of textbooks of different subjects while 2.92 crore copies of the textbooks have reached students according to the Karnataka Textbook Society.

Meanwhile, minister for primary and secondary education BC Nagesh said that the department will ensure that schools will get the textbooks that they have placed an order for by September 15.

“Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government press had to be shuttered for some time, hence the delay in printing and distribution. Our goal was to ensure that at least 50 % students get their textbooks before the commencement of the academic year,” he said.

He also said that 70 % of the core subject and language textbooks have been printed and will be distributed in the week to come.

“To suit the needs of online learning, textbooks were digitized and uploaded onto the department website. We understand that a good number of students have benefited from this. School principals and teachers have been advised to download the textbook from the government website and distribute the content to students” Nagesh said, addressing reporters in Bengaluru on Wednesday. 

Also read: Karnataka: Only 50% schools commence offline classes