Make maximum use of new textbooks, CM tells students

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has urged students to make maximum use of the textbooks for the next academic year that will reach their hands before school reopening in June.

He was speaking after inaugurating the State-level distribution of textbooks and handloom uniforms for the next academic year here on Friday.

The Chief Minister said school summer vacations tended to be long. Besides play, all children should keep aside a fixed time to go through the textbooks that would be used in the next academic year.

He reminded students that though textbooks were available to them before the start of a new academic year, that was not always the case. Before the first Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front government came to power, textbooks were not available on time. Students kept waiting for textbooks months after school reopening in June. Some teachers took photostat copies of the lessons and distributed them among students. The then Education department officials were responsible for not placing print orders in time and neglecting the importance of school education.

This, in turn, led to nearly five lakh students shifting from public schools and nearly 1,000 schools were facing the threat of closure owing to being ‘uneconomic.’ If such a situation had continued, the public education sector would have been destroyed.

The LDF government brought in huge changes. It spent ₹5,000 crore for giving a facelift to schools in the State. High-tech schools with smart classrooms here could compete with schools anywhere in the world, he pointed out.

Those criticising the distribution of textbooks and referring to palm-leaf manuscripts used earlier should remember that there was a time when education was denied to many. Today, all children went to school. Those responsible for the incompetence a decade ago were now claiming that there was nothing much in distribution of textbooks. However, it did matter to students and their families. Families in the State were very interested in children’s education. Any criticism of textbook distribution was a criticism of the State, the Chief Minister pointed out.

The government had made textbooks for the next academic year available before the current year ended, and this would be further improved, Mr. Vijayan said.

The handloom uniforms benefited not only students but also handloom workers, he pointed out.

The Chief Minister distributed school textbooks and uniforms to students at the function, presided over by Minister for General Education V. Sivankutty.