Pune Balbharati : Integrated textbooks not making burden lighter : reveals survey

By: Pune Pulse

December 7, 2023

Pune: A recent survey conducted by the state’s textbook bureau, ‘Balbharati,’ in October revealed that 1,083 students (4.8%) choose not to use the integrated textbooks, and an additional 779 students (3.5%) prefer to skip the blank pages in these books to write their notes.

The survey aimed to gather feedback from educators, guardians, and learners about the implementation of combined text-cum-notebooks, introduced as a pilot project from Grade I to Grade VIII in the region. It involved 22,193 students, 37,803 teachers, and 14,356 parents from various regions across the state, with the purpose of determining if students use the blank pages and if it has helped reduce the burden of school bags.

The survey link was available on the Balbharati website in October, with security measures in place to ensure the participation of students, parents, and teachers. KK Patil, the Director of Balbharati, mentioned that due to pending books from the previous year, integrated books were supplied to 70% of the students, while the remaining students continued to use traditional textbooks.

Patil also noted that several private schools requested the use of previous textbooks rather than the new integrated ones. From this year onward, integrated textbooks will be exclusively produced for Std I to Std VIII. Regarding the weight of school bags, 21.9% of parents (3,148 individuals) reported no change, while 38.2% (5,491 individuals) noted a slight decrease. Moreover, 29.1% (4,189 individuals) mentioned a significant decrease, and 10.6% (1,528 individuals) were unable to provide a definitive answer.

Among teachers, 3.2% (1,213 individuals) stated that there was no decrease in the weight of school bags due to the new books. Concerning the use of blank pages in the integrated textbooks, 779 students (3.5%) admitted to not utilizing them for note-taking, while 949 students (4.2%) expressed difficulty in writing on these pages.

Additionally, 1,698 students (7.6%) claimed to struggle with handling the textbooks. Notably, only 12,084 students (54.5%) confirmed that they read their notes, whereas 9,525 students (42.9%) revealed that their teachers do not regularly check their daily written work. Despite the presence of blank pages in the textbooks, a significant majority of parents, specifically 11,681 individuals (81.4%), provide their children with a minimum of four separate notebooks.

According to a previous report, 4.49 crore integrated textbooks, comprising four sets encompassing all subjects per semester, were distributed free of cost to government and aided schools at the commencement of the academic year on June 15. Furthermore, these textbooks were available for purchase in the open market for students attending private schools. Although it is not mandatory for private schools to adopt integrated textbooks, many schools strongly recommended parents to acquire them.

Parents had expressed grievances regarding sellers pressuring them to purchase all four sets instead of just one set for each quarter. The state is interested in determining if students are utilizing the empty pages given to them after each lesson and inquiring about the quality of the text and notebooks, as there have been reports of pages tearing apart due to frequent handling.