The All School Parents Association (Jharkhand) wrote a letter to chief minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday apprising him about the unavailability of textbooks, burden of fees and issues faced during online classes, and seeking his help.

The letter mentions that many district deputy commissioners have requested private schools to waive off school fees but the schools are adamant on their stand.

According to Ajay Rai, president of the All School Parents Association (Jharkhand), parents have also complained that studying online is difficult due to the unavailability of textbooks. The parents couldn’t buy books due to the lockdown.

Rai said: “As far as the school fee waiver is concerned, district deputy commissioners of Chaibasa, Giridih, Dhanbad and others have requested schools for a waiver but have failed to pressure them and put this to action. Also many parents have complained that though online schools have been regular, many students are lagging behind due to lack of textbooks.

“There are a number of issues which the CM should take notice of,” he said.

Parents complained that teachers are uploading assignments without elaborating the concerned chapters. Moreover, network issues create a lot of trouble when it comes to downloading the content.

Without books, the parents ted out, children, especially those who are in the junior classes, aren’t able to cope up.

Priya Roy, parent of a Class IV student of a CISCE affiliated school in Ranchi, said: “Teachers are just uploading chapters and asking our wards to complete the assignments, without elaborating the chapters. Books are a need now. Children are not able to grasp everything online.

“The government has allowed home delivery of groceries and other essential items. Why can’t they include books? Also, school teachers suggest jotting down the assignments on a specific kind of notebook which is not even available in the market,” Roy said.

However, school principals are of the opinion that unavailability of textbooks won’t be a serious problem because they are uploading scanned copies with proper explanation for the students.

Jhumjhumi Nandi, principal of Jusco School at Kadma in Jamshedpur, said: “Those who don’t have books can access the scanned copies teachers are sending. Also, CBSE board has uploaded the NCERT content on its website which can be easily accessed.”

The parents’ association has also requested the chief minister to ensure proper sanitising of school buildings whenever the institutions re-open.