Kerala Education Minister V Sivankutty Seeks Centre's Immediate Intervention On Textbook Shortage In Kendriya Vidyalayas

Kerala General Education Minister V Sivankutty on Sunday requested Centre to take immediate action to address the textbook shortage in Kendriya Vidyalayas in the state.

He pointed out that students of Class 5 and 8 in PM Sri Kendriya Vidyalayas are still lacking necessary books, four months after the onset of classes.

With only days remaining for the first quarterly tests, the default on the part of NCERT authorities to provide books, which should have been distributed, is highly serious, the minister observed in a press statement.

Kendriya Vidyalayas classes commenced from April 1. Even after four months, however, teachers were offered study material only through websites.

The minister explained that students cannot sit for the exams without books, which will greatly impact their studies.

Making a comparison between the state government schools, Sivankutty declared that textbooks have been made available in them even prior to the start of the academic year.

"In this situation, the negligence of NCERT is unacceptable. The action is to sell the books online and private book kiosks rather than providing them in schools," Sivankutty claimed.

It would compel children to purchase books at a monstrous price than the initial rate.

The union government should step into this immediately to provide textbooks to the students with regard to their future, the state minister said.