Rationalise free school textbook programme

In yesterday’s (12) edition of The Island was a front-page news report that the government intended to seek a loan from India to print school-text books for 2023.The distribution of school textbooks to all students free of charge is a short-sighted programme initiated by a government decades ago to obtain votes at the polls. (In fact, in the not too distant past, the books which were printed with public funds carried the photographs of Education Ministers.) All these years the country has managed to print them with voted funds as it was not facing crises of the same magnitude as the present one.

The question is whether textbooks should be given free or whether they should be given free to ALL students irrespective of the income levels of their parents. Just imagine students attending prestigious schools, and travelling in luxury vehicles being given textbooks for free just like the children of poor people. Doesn’t it sound idiotic to continue with a costly exercise of this nature, especially in the face of the unprecedented economic crisis, which has caused graver issues such as the acute shortages of drugs in government hospitals.

If this programme is to continue ,why can’t the Grama Niladharis be entrusted with the task of recommending the children who should be issued with school text books free, based on the income levels of their parents? Such a course of action will help drastically reduce the cost of this programme if the government intends continuing with it. At the same time, the Heads of schools could be entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that the textbooks are reused. When books are issued at the commencement of the school-year, the children could be strictly told that they should return the books to the school, having used them carefully.

P. Weerasekera