Srinagar, Oct 14: Education Minister Sakina Itoo on Wednesday said private schools cannot compel parents to purchase textbooks from designated booksellers, asserting that parents are free to buy books from any seller of their choice.
Ahead of the new academic session, the School Education Department (SED) has intensified scrutiny of textbook-related practices in private schools.
Itoo convened a high-level meeting of education department officials, representatives of the private schools association and parents’ bodies to discuss complaints regarding textbook prescriptions, the burden on students and the financial implications for families.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the meeting, the minister said a high-level committee would be constituted to monitor the implementation of government instructions and examine complaints against private schools.
The committee will include representatives of government departments, private schools and academicians.
The minister said the meeting was convened ahead of the new academic session to address concerns and ensure that students receive quality education without facing unnecessary financial burdens.
“If a complaint is found to be genuine, action will be taken against the erring school,” she said, adding that the department would scrutinise the issues to ensure compliance with government directions.
On private schools prescribing books in addition to those published by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), Itoo said additional books could be allowed if they genuinely enhanced students’ knowledge and learning.
“There is not much difference between the NCERT syllabus and other prescribed material. Around 85 per cent of the syllabus is the same,” she said, adding that additional books should not be imposed on students when parents consider them unnecessary.
She cautioned schools against prescribing books merely for commercial considerations or forcing parents to purchase material that offered little educational benefit.
Meanwhile, an official who attended the meeting said that private school representatives were questioned over prescribing five to six textbooks to students at the foundational stage, particularly kindergarten and upper kindergarten classes.
“As per the NCF for the foundational stage, the students should not be overburdened with textbooks. But the private schools prescribe five to six textbooks to the students of kindergarten and upper KG classes,” the official said.
The official said the issue was raised after private schools argued that government schools did not prescribe Environmental Science textbooks to students at the foundational stage.
“In government schools, such textbooks are prescribed from Class 3 onwards as per the guidelines of NCF (foundational stage). But private schools do not follow it,” the official added.
The official also questioned the position of private schools that criticise the quality of JKBOSE textbooks while using the same board’s curriculum at the secondary and senior secondary levels.
“If the content is not good for lower classes, how does it become worth for high and higher secondary classes?” the official asked.
The official further claimed that 92 per cent of students from Jammu and Kashmir who qualified for this year’s NEET had studied in JKBOSE-affiliated schools, while only eight per cent had studied in schools affiliated with other boards.
As reported earlier by Greater Kashmir, the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education (JKBOSE) has made it mandatory for private schools to adopt its prescribed textbooks for students from primary to higher classes.
The board issued the directions under the powers vested in it by the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education Act, 1975.
“Under the Act, JKBOSE holds the authority to prescribe courses of instruction, curricula, syllabi, and textbooks for various academic levels, including pre-primary, elementary, secondary, and higher secondary school examinations,” reads a circular issued by JKBOSE in previous years.
