Game of commission in books
Unbridled education system: The arbitrariness of schools and books became a problem. Private schools became book dealers and shopkeepers became retailers.
Priyanka Saurabh
As soon as the new session starts in the schools, the problems of the parents increased. Along with the fees of one to two months, the huge amount charged in the name of development fees in the schools has to be paid, then copy-books have to be bought as well. The copy-book set is so expensive that parents are sweating to buy it. In many private schools, a set of books for classes I and VIII is costing Rs.6 to 10,000. The administration and education department are keeping silent on this loot. These days there are long lines at all the booksellers. Relatives are reaching selected shops to buy children’s books. Books from private publishers prescribed by schools are up to five times more expensive than NCERT books. Most private school operators do not show interest in ordering National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) books. In private schools, 80 percent of expensive books by private publishers are taught.
The cost of these books is many times more than NCERT. In many books, a print slip is pasted separately on top of the print rate, and much more is recovered than the published price. In private schools, expensive books from different publishers are installed along with changing the books every year due to commission. A 256-page NCERT book costs Rs 65 while a private publisher’s 167-page book is available for Rs 305. Which books are being taught by the school which is available for 500 to 600 rupees? Even BA-MA books are not so expensive. Earlier, his younger child used to read from the books of the elder child because the books remained the same. But now the younger child is not able to use the books of older children because every year deliberately one or the other changes are made in the books. The covers of the books are also changed so that it cannot be known whether it is an old book or a new one. For the revision of one page of the book, a new book has to be taken.
The syllabus of schools changes every year. But the syllabus prepared by NCERT with great research has remained the same for years. But now the question arises that the standard of curriculum implemented in private schools falls so much in one year that the schools have to change it. But it is not so, the standard of the curriculum is fine, but the schools are afraid of cutting their commission. If the old syllabus is implemented then the students will get all those books at all the shops in the city. Some students will try to make do with old books as well. In such a situation, the illegal earnings of private schools may get a shock. Private schools are not in favor of this. The curriculum changes by the schools are only nominal sequence changes. In which the serial number of the chapter written in the books is changed, so that the students cannot use the previous year’s books. Why there is no time limit fixed after how much time the books have to be revised? Despite being from the Central Board of Secondary Education, children are asked to take books from private publishers instead of NCERT.
NCERT books are available in every shop but to buy books from private publishers one has to visit a certain shop. These books are not available anywhere else. Atlas, Book of Human Values, Grammar, Compact, Graph Book, etc are such things that do not seem to be anywhere throughout the year, yet have to be taken because the school says. Taking a compact assignment of Rs.488, a graph book of Rs.50, etc., the bill runs into thousands. Whether it is the state government or the central government, no one cares about education. In this area, private schools are openly looting the public. No government is paying attention to this. What is the level of education and how is there looting? There is no one to watch. The administration is also silent on the bullying of schools and private publishers and is unable to do anything for the benefit of the parents. The administration has issued instructions across the country that NCERT books will be taught in all schools, but no private school is following it. Everyone is handing over the list of private publisher’s books to the parents of their own free will. Even the parents are not able to protest much regarding the future of their children.
Booksellers get only 15 to 20 percent commission on NCERT books. While others pay 30 to 40 percent commission from publishers. Apart from this, stationery offers are available separately. In the greed of this huge commission, the school operators deal directly with the publishers and get the books directly from the schools. Due to which the private schools also get five to 10 percent commission from the booksellers or they get their commission from the booksellers determined by the school. The school operators get the benefit of lakhs in this game which is held every year. Any parent does not want to play with the future of his child because after the complaint action may or may not be taken against the bookseller, and the school will take action against the child. In such a situation, the question is whether the officers are not able to see this loot happening openly.
