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| Saturday, 9 October 2004 |
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Distribution of free school textbooks is one of the most important activities of the Ministry of Education. The Educational Publications Department (EPD) is entrusted with the task of producing school textbooks and distributing the books required for 2005 to schools before end November 2004. Work in this regard commenced according to action plan drawn up by the Commissioner General of EPD. The distribution of free textbooks commenced on the September 16, 2004 with the participation of Mangala Samaraweera Deputy Minister of Education. Special features of this accelerated program are: Supplying textbooks direct to schools with a student population of 4,000 or more. This has expedited the distribution of books, as the Divisional Directors need not keep a large volume of books at their storage. The re-use policy of books too can be closely monitored. Multiple textbooks are introduced for grade 7 in 2005. Seven titles of books have been produced under the Multiple Book Option (MBO). In accordance with the decision to replace Social Studies and History with History, Geography and Civic Education, three separate textbooks in three media will be introduced for Grade 7. English medium textbooks for Grade 9 have been produced for the following subjects for the students going into Grade 9 in 2005 - Mathematics; Science and Technology; Social Studies and History and Health and Physical Education. The English medium textbooks required for Grades 6, 7 and 8 were earlier translated and distributed to schools under the Amity Schools Project. The size of each book and volume of pages has been a concern of parents and educationist. Therefore on the advice of the Secretary of Education steps were taken to print certain books in 2-3 volumes. This would enable children to carry a smaller book at a given time. A re-use policy of textbooks is encouraged. Rewarding students who sue books carefully, conducting workshops and seminars at school level, poster competitions and essay competitions are among some of the proposals aimed at encouraging the re-use of books. The following tasks in the action plan have been accomplished to streamline the distribution process - obtaining the data of the requirement of books from the divisions, checking the data obtained for accuracy, steps taken to dispatch the books to schools from the divisions without delay and monitoring the distribution process at divisional level. The delay in printing textbooks has often been the cause for the delay in distribution. In order to overcome this situation a committee comprising three officers was appointed who will constantly monitor the printing progress of the contracted publishers. For the first time, two staff officers are stationed at the two stores to monitor the progress of the receipt and dispatch of books. The book distribution staff at the Educational Publications Department were given a training at a workshop on book distribution and related activities. However, the book distribution has become a complex task due to the number of titles and copies becoming increased every year. 131 titles distributed in 1980 has now become increased to 292, this year. The number of copies to be distributed is approximately 74 million. Now, books have to be transported to North and East through land routes. The departmental staffs have to undergo various hardships at the checkpoints and also face dangerous situations when travelling through areas not properly cleared of land mines. However, the courage and commitments of the EPD staff to accomplish this national task is praiseworthy. |
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