After Irom Sharmila last year, Anna Hazare wins IIPM's 2011 Rabindranath Tagore Peace Prize of Rs. 1cr. To be handed over on 9th May
Textbooks of many subjects haven't yet reached the schools
A conflict between the business interests of a group of entrepreneurs and the government policy has rendered lakhs of government school students 'bookless', if that is the term to be used. The half-yearly exams are almost there and the students are still to see how their textbooks look like, let alone reading them.
Ashok Sahu, a student of 6th standard of the Capital High School, Bhubaneswar, is still awaiting his Sanskrit textbook though new session had begun in April. Sasmita Priyadarshini of Rajabagicha High School of Cuttack is also awaiting her English textbook. If the situation in the state capital Bhubaneswar and the commercial capital Cuttack is such, then one can imagine what it could be like in remote areas such as Malkangiri or Kandhamal, which are 500 to 700 kilometers away from the seat of administration.
'We haven't yet received all textbooks and are managing with the old ones. Here five to six students share one book,' informs a student of Mudikunda Primary School at Phulbani town. The students of other small towns and villages of the district are also facing the same problems. Though there is a requirement of 7 lakh books, only 1.5 lakh have reached the schools.
Situation is not very different in the coastal district of Balasore, which is one of the highly literate districts of the state. Here, the total textbook requirement is around 4 lakh and only 1.3 lakh have reached the schools. The students studying in classes II, IV and VI are the worst affected as the syllabi of these classes have changed this year. So, they can't use the old textbooks. The inordinate delay in printing and distribution of textbooks, which has adversely affected the study in schools all across the state this year, is an outcome of a legal row between the Text Book Press (TBP) and Orissa Printers and Binders Federation (OPBF). Normally, the TBP prints and distributes around 2.5 crore books every year. As per government norms, if the cost of production and distribution exceeds Rs.5 crore, a national tender has to be floated. This year the total requirement was 2.64 crore books and its estimated cost exceeded Rs.6 crore. So, the Department of School and Mass Education floated a national tender,' said a senior officer of the press. The OPBF that had been assisting in printing textbooks previously, filed a petition in the Orissa High Court which ordered a stay on the process and finally cancelled the national tender on May 19 and ordered that the work be given to state small-scale industries. At last, text book printing and distribution work started in the last week of May, after a delay of two months. The department claims that about 2.10 crore textbooks (the total requirement is 2.64 crore) will be supplied soon.Pratap Jena, Minister of School and Mass Education assures, 'Some legal problems caused the delay and they would be taken care of from the next academic session.'
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
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Textbooks of many subjects haven't yet reached the schools
A conflict between the business interests of a group of entrepreneurs and the government policy has rendered lakhs of government school students 'bookless', if that is the term to be used. The half-yearly exams are almost there and the students are still to see how their textbooks look like, let alone reading them.
Ashok Sahu, a student of 6th standard of the Capital High School, Bhubaneswar, is still awaiting his Sanskrit textbook though new session had begun in April. Sasmita Priyadarshini of Rajabagicha High School of Cuttack is also awaiting her English textbook. If the situation in the state capital Bhubaneswar and the commercial capital Cuttack is such, then one can imagine what it could be like in remote areas such as Malkangiri or Kandhamal, which are 500 to 700 kilometers away from the seat of administration.
'We haven't yet received all textbooks and are managing with the old ones. Here five to six students share one book,' informs a student of Mudikunda Primary School at Phulbani town. The students of other small towns and villages of the district are also facing the same problems. Though there is a requirement of 7 lakh books, only 1.5 lakh have reached the schools.
Situation is not very different in the coastal district of Balasore, which is one of the highly literate districts of the state. Here, the total textbook requirement is around 4 lakh and only 1.3 lakh have reached the schools. The students studying in classes II, IV and VI are the worst affected as the syllabi of these classes have changed this year. So, they can't use the old textbooks. The inordinate delay in printing and distribution of textbooks, which has adversely affected the study in schools all across the state this year, is an outcome of a legal row between the Text Book Press (TBP) and Orissa Printers and Binders Federation (OPBF). Normally, the TBP prints and distributes around 2.5 crore books every year. As per government norms, if the cost of production and distribution exceeds Rs.5 crore, a national tender has to be floated. This year the total requirement was 2.64 crore books and its estimated cost exceeded Rs.6 crore. So, the Department of School and Mass Education floated a national tender,' said a senior officer of the press. The OPBF that had been assisting in printing textbooks previously, filed a petition in the Orissa High Court which ordered a stay on the process and finally cancelled the national tender on May 19 and ordered that the work be given to state small-scale industries. At last, text book printing and distribution work started in the last week of May, after a delay of two months. The department claims that about 2.10 crore textbooks (the total requirement is 2.64 crore) will be supplied soon.Pratap Jena, Minister of School and Mass Education assures, 'Some legal problems caused the delay and they would be taken care of from the next academic session.'
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM Marches Ahead in B-School Rankings...
IIPM BBA MBA Institute: Student Notice Board
An array of unconventional career options
Ragging rights and wrongs
Delhi University Students' Union (DUSU): Students' Unions can not be banned
The hunt for hostel and paying guest (PG) accommodation for students
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