Textbooks In Time

Education is one of the cornerstones of a country's development, identity, culture, and civilisation. It plays a pivotal role in instilling a sense of patriotism for one's country and love for its heritage. Besides, an education system kept up with time not only helps secure pupils' future economically, but also inculcates in them a sense of civic duty and social responsibility – qualities crucial to fortify a society from evil forces. A good school-level education, apart from helping students pass the grades with flying colours, also lays the groundwork for students to nurture a lifelong love for learning. A well-educated person is indeed a precious human resource.

School textbooks are a crucial source of learning in Nepal. By providing a structured and comprehensive overview of a range of subjects, they offer students a foundational base of knowledge, helping them understand complex concepts. Not only are they a reliable source of information written by experts, but they also act as guides throughout the learning process.  This is so because textbooks are constantly updated to provide the most accurate, relevant, effective, and up-to-date educational resources for learners. To keep up with times and address the changing needs of pupils, outdated materials are expunged to clear space for technological advancements and also to rectify creeping errors. This is also done to incorporate new materials, improve pedagogy, and enhance learning outcomes.

But the recurring issue of delay in delivering textbooks has been greatly hampering learning in our students, especially those in the far-flung areas in the western region of the country. Pupils there are already less privileged on many fronts: They hardly get good teachers or resource materials that can create an academic milieu supportive enough to pursue learning for long. When textbooks fail to reach them on time, they miss out on learning opportunities, widening the gap between them and those privileged to study in good schools in urban centres. 

This explains why many students there fare poorly in year-end examinations, including SEE, and drop out early from schools, among other consequences.  Geographical challenges are blamed for the delay in the ferrying of the textbooks, despite the availability of books. But in 2022, the problem was so severe that there was not enough paper to print books. The breakout of the Russia- Ukraine war created a global shortage of paper, and whatever paper was available had to be used to print ballots for local-level elections the country held that year.

But this year, things have changed for the better. Textbooks for all municipalities in Humla have arrived in time for the new academic session. Janak Shiksha Samagri Kendra, the publisher, has successfully delivered the books to all seven rural municipalities of the district.  A total of 1,055 sets of books for grades 1, 2, and 4 were transported, along with 1,960 sets for grades 3 through 12. The books arrived a week before the start of new academic session. Both teachers and students are happy that they have the needed books to make the teaching-learning activities effective. 

The commitment expressed by the concerned officials involved in the delivery of the books that they will not allow to repeat the past incidences of textbook shortage at any cost is laudable. By timely delivering books in one of the remotest corners of the country, officials have shown that making books available nationwide is very much possible, and commitment and political will are what are needed to make this happen.