Summary
Many schools have started classes for those enrolled in Class XI in early May because of the extended summer vacation
Calcutta: The state higher secondary council has decided to upload the PDF versions of Bengali, English and Hindi textbooks because they have yet to be printed.
Government-aided schools have been told to download the PDF version so students can be taught in online classes. Many schools have started classes for those enrolled in Class XI in early May because of the extended summer
vacation.
The summer vacation started on April 22 and was extended till June 9 early this week because of the Lok Sabha elections.
Several school heads told The Telegraph last week that as books on many subjects, including language, are yet to be printed, the crisis has left them clueless about what should be taught during the online classes.
The council president, Chirarjeeb Bhattacharya, said that as the printed books on the languages are unlikely to be printed and distributed before the third week of June they uploaded the PDF versions on Thursday to help schools conduct classes.
The council is printing books afresh as the plus-II course that has been split into four semesters this year — semesters I and II for Class XI and III and IV for Class XII. The council’s academic calendar says semester-I exams will be held from September 13 to 30.
The council distributes Bengali, English and Hindi language books from the schools free of cost.
The students are required to buy books on other subjects.
A notice signed by the council president says: “As the language textbooks are not yet available and there are considerable changes in the curriculum, we are uploading the textual components of all the language papers on the council’s website for the benefit of teachers, students and general academic community”.
“However, it may be kindly noted that the school education department is taking steps to expedite the delivery of hard copies of the textbooks to all the students of different schools under WBCHSE (the council) at the earliest”.
The notice adds: “The teachers and students can start their classes based on the uploaded document on our website for the time being”.
Ashim Nanda, the headmaster of Shree Aurobindo Vidyamandir in Dum Dum, said: “When the council asked schools to start online classes in early May, the hard copies of the books should be made available immediately. Besides, what about those
students who don’t have smartphones?
The state government has been transferring ₹10,000 each to the accounts of 9.5 lakh Class XII students at government or government-aided schools to buy tablets or smartphones since the pandemic for attending online classes.
The scheme continues.
The state government has recently announced that a similar initiative will be extended to those in Class XI.
“But this is yet to be done and will take some time. Besides, when the semester system was launched at the plus-II level, how could the education department remain quiet about making the books available? The books on many subjects other than the language are not available in the market,” said Chandan Maity, headmaster of Krishnachandrapur High School in Mathurapur, South 24-Parganas.
Last updated on 31 May 2024
