Kerala school textbooks for Classes 6 to 8 may take 45 more days, union leader claims

With just two weeks left for government schools to reopen, a senior INTUC leader and president of the KBPS staff and employees union on Tuesday said that textbooks for classes 6 to 8 could take around 45 more days to be ready for distribution. K K Ibrahimkutty, the president of the Kerala Books and Publications Society (KBPS) staff and employees union, told a TV channel here that, as per the latest figures, only close to 80 per cent of the required books have been printed.

He alleged that when the previous government claimed that all books would reach students before schools reopened for the new academic year, only 20 per cent of the books had been printed at that time. "After the issue was highlighted by the media, the process gathered speed," he claimed. Giving details, Ibrahimkutty said of the total 3,57,05,475 books to be printed, only 2,85,51,000 have been printed till May 18, which accounts for 79.96 per cent. Of the printed books, binding of 2,48,95,000 books has been completed, he said. Now, 71,54,476 books are yet to be printed, and a total of around 1.08 crore have to be bound, he further said.

"Each day, a maximum of 3 lakh books can be bound if the machines work without any problems. At that rate, it will take around 45 days to complete the process, and then they have to be supplied to the schools, which will also take some time," Ibrahimkutty said. He alleged that all this occurred due to the inefficiency and slow pace of the KBPS management, including its managing director, who did not inform the government of the crores of payment arrears due to the paper mills in Tamil Nadu. "That led to a delay in the supply of paper for printing and binding. After the problem was highlighted by the media, the officials released Rs 7 crore to the mills," he claimed.

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As of now, the government also has to pay Rs 300 crore to KBPS for printing the books alone, he added. The president of the KBPS staff and employees union said that till now, only the books of class 10 have been completed, and the books for classes 6 to 8 will take a lot more time to be finished and distributed. He also said that he suspects the crisis was deliberately caused by the KBPS management to create problems for the new government that comes to power.

At the same time, the UDF has not yet declared the portfolios of its ministers and who will be heading the General Education Department, even after two weeks since the declaration of the assembly poll results. Then General Education Minister V Sivankutty had said a month before the assembly elections that books for all state-run schools will be distributed before they close at the end of the 2025-26 academic year.