Schools, Telangana government in book war

Last year, the Telangana government's attempts in this regard had failed after private schools approached the High Court on the issue and the case is still pending. Private schools have decided to approach the High Court again over the issue if the government insists on its textbooks. The main objection being raised by private schools is that the textbooks published by the government for primary classes from classes I to V focus on alphabets, numbers, rhymes, writing small sentences etc, while their students learn all these topics at the pre-school level in nursery, LKG and UKG.

Since government schools have no concept of pre-primary, it is covering all these topics at the primary level. Private schools fear that if they start adopting government books, parents may shift their children to CBSE, ICSE schools etc, which follow a much advanced syllabus. However, Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari who holds the education portfolio rubbished the claims being made by private schools.

"We don't have objection to adopt government books, if they revise the syllabus on par with CBSE, ICSE schools. Who will send their wards to our schools if we teach alphabets, numbers, rhymes in primary classes? If the government wants us to follow its books let it first revise the syllabus," said S. Sreenivas Reddy, president, Telangana Recognised Schools Managements Association.

However, Deputy CM Kadiam Srihari who holds the education portfolio rubbished the claims being made by private schools.

"It's wrong to say that the government textbooks are sub-standard. They were devised according to norms stipulated by National Curriculum Framework devised by NCERT with prime focus on learning without burden. In a mad rush for securing ranks, private schools are burdening students with syllabus of higher classes at primary level itself, which should not be encouraged. Unfortunately, even some parents are encouraging this. We are ready to revise the syllabus wherever there is a need but it's wrong to categorise government books as outdated or sub-standard," he said.