School textbooks gets dearer in Telangana
Parents of students studying State syllabus have to shell out at least 30 per cent to 35 per cent from next academic year
Hyderabad: Purchasing textbooks of the State syllabus is going to be a costly affair and will burn a hole in parents’ pockets. Owing to hike in paper prices besides enhanced paper thickness, parents have to shell out at least 30 per cent to 35 per cent more towards textbooks for the forthcoming academic year compared to last year.
With textbooks turning expensive, additional financial burden has to be borne by parents whose wards are studying in private schools as the State government provides free textbooks to students of all government run schools. There are nearly 11,000 private schools with an enrollment of 30 lakh students. These schools require over 1.22 crore sale component textbooks, which will be made available in the market from May 1.
“Each sale component textbook that cost Rs 55 last year will now be priced about Rs 75. Cost of paper has gone up and so has the cost of textbooks this year,” a School Education department official said.
Last year, the textbook prices went up by at least 50 per cent as the paper per metric tonne which was priced at Rs 61,000 in 2021 rose to Rs 95,000 in 2022. A bunch of eight textbooks for Class X were priced Rs 1,074 in 2022 and the same textbooks were priced at Rs 686 in 2021.
The exact prices of the textbooks for this year can be ascertained once they hit the stores.
Meanwhile, the Government Textbook Press, a wing of the School Education department, has dispatched 33 per cent of the free component textbooks to the district points as on April 17.
A total of 1,57,48,270 free component textbooks are required for 28,77,675 students of government run institutions for the academic year 2023-24. Of the total, 1,05,38,044 textbooks have already reached the district points from here they will be dispatched to the mandals and schools.
The State government last year has introduced English medium of instruction in Classes I to VIII in all government schools in the State and one higher class will be added this year. To ensure students comprehend English medium instructions with ease, bilingual i.e., in English and Telugu textbooks were being printed. So, bilingual textbooks were printed this year as well. As the number of pages go up due to bilingual languages, textbooks are being provided to students in two phases i.e., for summative I and summative II.
“We have already dispatched 33 per cent of the total free component textbooks to districts. The first phase textbooks will be provided to students well before commencement of the fresh academic year and second phase textbooks in July or August,” the official added.
