Free textbooks soon for Mardan schools to avoid inconveniences to the students and parents
MARDAN: The education department is taking up steps to ensure the timely distribution of free textbooks to avoid inconveniences to the students and parents like that of the previous year.
Officials told The News that distribution of free textbooks to over 1600 boys and girls schools of the district for 2009-10 would be launched shortly.
District officer education, Javed Iqbal, who is also the district focal person for the books distribution programme, said Mardan district would receive books for its 255063 primary and 241991 high level students from NWFP Textbook Board by April 1, and the same would be delivered to schools as quickly as possible. Javed said in light of the past experiences, elaborate plan has been chalked out and roles have been assigned to different assistant district officers for the purpose.
During the current year books were given to students in phases as last cache of the books was delivered in November 8. There are complaints of deficiency of some books in schools even now, some teachers, who wished anonymity, claimed.
Javed, however, assured there would be no such problem this year.We have conveyed our class-wise and subject-wise demand for books for the coming session in November last year, he said.
The department has also issued a circular on January 27 to all the heads of schools asking them to collect old books from their students, he said.These books would be utilised for future use in case any shortage of books, he said.
Meanwhile in Lakki Marwat, heavy rain and hailstorm lashed almost all parts of the district Saturday, damaging the wheat, gram crops and melon fields.
Farmers told this scribe that the downpour coupled with hailstorm continued the whole day and it inflicted huge losses on the growers.
The harvest of wheat and gram crops is going to start next month, they said, adding that the rain had badly affected the crops. They said the shower that later turned into drizzling also damaged melon fields in different parts of the district.
