Punjab board changes 17 textbooks to match up to NCERT, CBSE

TEACHERS RUE CHANGE OF BOOKS AND LATE DELIVERY EVERY YEAR RESULTING IN LOSS OF STUDIES

: Keeping up with its much-debated practice of changing textbooks annually and then not delivering them on time, Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) has yet again changed 17 textbooks of Classes 6 to 12 from the new academic session 2017-18. The reason cited is, to bring the standard of these books at par with those by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) that are recommended by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

However, teachers are not happy. The board has changed textbooks for Classes 6,8, 9, 11 and 12. For Class 6, textbook of Punjabi language has been changed. For Class 8, textbooks of physical education in all three mediums (Punjabi, Hindi and English), and for Class 9 the textbooks of English and Punjabi have been changed. The Class-11 textbook of physical education and games in Punjabi medium (vocational subject) and of agriculture subject in Punjabi medium have been changed.

For Class 12, the board has changed 13 textbooks of main subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and geography. Details of the exact changes are not known yet.

A teacher from Ludhiana, on the condition of anonymity, said, “Every year, the board changes the textbooks and does not send them till April 1. We have to start the new academic session from April, and it becomes difficult to conduct the classes without books. With a change in textbooks, teachers can’t teach students with old textbooks. The board needs to send the books by March 25.”

Balbir Singh Dhol, PSEB chairman, said, “With time, we need to change our textbooks to bring our students on a par with CBSE students. We are making sure that books reach schools before the new session. There are total 190 titles, and 59 have already reached our office.”