Cuttack: Hundreds of students of a number of schools in the district are still awaiting free textbooks even after completion of half of the current academic year.
The Union and state governments are spending crores of rupees under the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA), to universalise primary and secondary education.
The Right to Education (RTE) Act has been introduced to make free education as the right of every child.
Under the two ambitious schemes, the Centre and state are providing midday meals (MDM), free textbooks and uniforms to students from Class I to VIII. However, the School and Mass Education (S&ME) department has failed to provide free books to many students in Cuttack district even though nearly half of the academic year is over.
Sources said hundreds of students in the district have recently appeared for an internal assessment without receiving the free textbooks. According to sources, at least 20 per cent of schoolchildren in the district are yet to receive the textbooks.
What is shocking is this happened even after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had directed the S&ME department to provide textbooks and uniforms to schoolchildren by August-end while presiding over a review meet in July this year.
District SSA sources said the S&ME department has provided textbooks to all students from Class I to VII and 97.49 per cent of students of Class VIII. However, information available at the ground level is contrary to the official data.
Sources said at least 150 Class I students in Damapada block are yet to get two textbooks (Hasakhela-1 and Hasakhela-2) prescribed for them. Similarly, 41 Class II students have not received a textbook. “Altogether 116 Class III students are yet to get the mathematics and Oriya literature books while the S&ME department has failed to provide English books to 41 schoolchildren in Damapada block,” said a source.
It is learnt that 139 children in Nischintakoili block have not received the Hasakhela book. As many as 166 Class V students in Tangi-Choudwar block are yet to get mathematics books. Moreover, the S&ME department has failed to supply science books to 44 Class VIII students and geometry books to 19 students, sources said, adding that the situation is no different in other blocks of the district.
“I have not received the mathematics book. I borrow the book from one of my friends,” said Saina Taranam, a Class VII student at Hansanath Primary School at Paramahansha under Sadar block.
Smita Das, a Class VIII student of the school, said she is yet to get the maths book. “My teacher has arranged an old book for me,” she added. Subrat Rout, a Class VIII student of Ratnakar Vidyamandir at Biribati, said he had appeared for the English paper examination by borrowing a book from his friend.
“We have raised the textbook issue with the cluster resource centre coordinator. We are trying to collect some old books for our students,” said Sabitarani Pati, the headmistress of Ratnakar Vidyamandir.
Hansanath Primary School Headmaster Basudev Nayak said they have arranged old books for students who have not received free textbooks.
When contacted, district SSA project coordinator Gadadhar Behera said they had taken steps to solve textbook shortage issues at a few blocks in the district.