JAMMU: Taking stern action against private book publishers who are fleecing the gullible parents by charging skyrocketing prices for textbooks, Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education has issued the price list of its own textbooks for students upto 5th class.
The Board has published the as Hindi, English, Dogri and Kashmir languages textbooks under the New Education Policy-2020 which are available in the market at the cheapest rate than the private book publishers, thus bringing in major relief to parents of thousands of students in the union territory.
In a recent order, the Board published a price list of five newly developed textbooks for the session of 2024-25 under the leadership of Professor (Dr.) Parikshat Singh Manhas, Chairman JKBOSE.
As per the price list, Hindi textbook for 3rd class is available for only Rs 62, while Hindi textbook for class 4th is available for Rs 71, English 1st class for Rs 62, Kashmiri textbook for class 1st and 2nd is available for Rs 48, while Dogri book for 1st class is priced at Rs 53.
“There is no major difference in terms of content and quality between these books available in the open market and the books published by the board itself. In fact, these books prepared by the board are more in line with the New Education Policy-2020 and will help the students amidst the evolving education scenario in the nation,” officials told this scribe.
Moreover, these books are priced at one-third the cost of the books published by private publishers, they added.
Independent market research indicated the private book publishers sell their books between Rs 150-Rs 300, while the same books by boards are priced starting from less than 50 rupees, and capping at Rs 71.
“This move is aimed at putting to a halt the practice of some schools forcing the parents to purchase the books from the private players to earn profits, which is unacceptable,” said an official of the Board.
“If someone forces the parents to buy private publisher books, they are liable for action as per the rules,” he said.
The parents can file the complaints against the school administration for this, the Board has constituted a separate committee for CBSE and JK Board schools in every district of Jammu and Kashmir to meet the problems raised during the commencement of every academy session.
Since Professor (Dr.) Parikshat Singh Manhas took the charge as Chairman JKBOSE, he took various student friendly initiatives and directed the JKBOSE affiliated schools to teach Board textbooks which have been compiled by the Board’s experts to meet today’s demands, the Board official said.
The Board has also warned the private schools’ administration of action if the directions will not be implemented on ground.