LAHORE: The Punjab School Education Department (SED) has restricted the use of study guides of private publishers in all the public schools of the province.

The department took notice of the key-books or guides being used in the schools to teach the students. The department had directed use of books approved by the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board (PCTB). The board was providing free of cost syllabus books in all public schools of the province.

The SED had directed that no private publisher’s guide and helping book would be taught in schools and action would be taken against the [school] heads for violating the orders.

According to a SED notification available with Dawn, “It has been observed that helping/extra books are being used/ recommended in the schools. It is directed that no helping/extra books be recommended to the students. Any deviation would be dealt with under the relevant rules/ policies.”

Reports suggest teachers get ‘commission’ from publishers for recommending such books

It further states that “home work of the students should be checked properly and special attention should be given to road safety measures and every Muslim student should be able to know how to offer prayer.”

It also directed that for the safety of schools and students, special security measures should be adopted immediately and CCTV cameras must be activated through internet connection and corporal punishment to the students was strictly prohibited in all public and private institutions.

A school teacher, Muddassir Leghari, said the teachers and students both would use these helping books. All the questions were solved in these guides and both teachers and students would not have to do exercises to solve it,” he said.

Leghari said the authorities and monitoring teams had time and again confiscated the helping books from students and teachers and directed that the guides should not be carried in schools.

Punjab Teachers Union leader Rana Liaquat told Dawn that the helping material containing solved questions were banned in the schools as it would promote rote learning among students.

He said the students and teachers would lose interest in class after using guides of the private publishers.

He said the publishers would also sell the books with the help of teachers as they would recommend the use of books to students.

Mr Liaquat said the teachers would also get 10 to 20 per cent financial benefits per book from publishers after recommending the stuff to students.

He said mostly the English medium books were translated in Urdu and students would memorise the books and did not use syllabus stuff to solve the paper.

He said the students would also purchase ready-made practical copies of different science subjects and would submit in practical examinations.

Mr Liaquat said he would also personally reject the use of the helping books in schools and it would leave a negative impact on the learning of the students.

He said the teachers would not prepare the lesson after using the guides in the schools.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2022