२४.१२°C काठमाडौं
Wasteful spending on books
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It was very difficult to get textbooks when we studied. It would take a whole day to reach on foot in a bookstore at the district headquarters, and you never knew when the book would come and when it would be sold out. Maybe it was not enough for the students there. At that time, there was no phone facility to know whether the book had arrived or not. The set of books would be completed after running several times one day, one day, another day.
By then, half of the academic session would have been over. The situation in some districts was more difficult than what we experienced. Friends who could drive from the city could read every book on time. Those who were unable to do so were formed into groups of two to three people in a village to work from a set of books brought to the district headquarters.
Those books that were brought with such trouble were kept very well with a plastic cover. Kermet was not done, except to write down one's name. Naturally, if there is something that has been connected with a lot of pain, then anyone will love it. The next year, the same book was bought by others at half price. This process continued for the last four to five years. Citizens of a poor country like ours should be frugal like this.
Now even students in remote areas can get textbooks on time and easily. That too for free. This is a very good thing. But this 'easily' and 'free' provided by the government has led to abuse to some extent. Any thing found or received does not have value and importance. Nowadays students don't need to save books as
s are not sold and old ones are not read. Therefore, some people fail the exam. Some give it to the chatpatewala. Usually the books kept in the school store are sold by calling the Kavadiwala. Somewhere is threatened.
Other books people buy sit on shelves for years. are kept in the library. But books distributed free in government schools are destroyed within a year even though they are unchanged and readable when the curriculum is changed.
How can books that have been read for only one year become useless? When the book is printed on imported paper that has increased in price, the people's tax has been spent? If you have to take a foreign loan, that too has to be paid. If
textbooks are printed on quality paper and sold at a minimum price, the books would also be saved and government funds would be saved/utilized. Does the government not have this much knowledge? Or is this done because the commission comes from the purchase of paper and book printing?
On the other hand, private school students have to pay tons of money to buy expensive books every year. One or two texts are changed every year to buy a 'new book'. How much 'wisdom' has come! Will the government think of reducing such unnecessary expenses of books?
– Indrakumar Shrestha, Okhaldhunga
