PANAJI
Director of Education, Shailesh Zingde, is confident that this year text books will reach schools in time as the department has issued a fresh contract after a tendering process and supply has been mandated by May 30.
"The previous 5-year contract for supply of text books had expired and the DoE has signed a new contract in which we have specified that the supply should reach us latest by May 30," Zingde said, adding that issues faced last year where the books came in late will not repeat this year.
Zingde said, due to shortage of paper and soaring prices, the contractor had raised issues and even raised an additional payment bill because of which the supply of the text books was delayed last year.
Schools in Goa meanwhile, have been instructed through circulars to ensure that text books used by students in the previous year should be kept back so the new students this year can use them.
In the first week of April, a circular was issued to heads of government and aided schools, that text books provided free to students of class I to VIII under the RTE Act entitlement have to be left behind at the academic year-end to end "wastage".
The April circular was issued by Goa Samagra Shiksha official S S Ghadi who asked heads of institutions to collect these text books from students after the end of the academic year and store them in the classrooms.
"Some of these books which were left behind by students who have got promoted to higher class can also be used in the event of the new books not reaching the schools for any extraneous reason," Zingde said.
