Karnataka: With printing delayed due to pandemic, book banks help rural students in Ramanagara

BENGALURU: With printing and distribution of textbooks to schoolchildren being delayed by several months due to Covid-19, book banks have come to the rescue of students. This is especially the case in rural areas where schools have managed to collect a good number of books from students promoted to the next class.
TOI visited a few schools in Ramanagara district and found the ‘book bank’ concept has been doing wonders for students. Government Primary School in Heggadagere, Bidadi is among the institutions where 95% of the books of promoted students have been collected.
While in some schools, teachers have already handed over the old books to students, others are waiting for the government’s direction.
Bailappa ML, headmaster of the school, said, “Most people who live here are farmers and are uneducated. Online classes or those broadcast on TV may not help their wards as many of them are either unaware or reluctant. But when the children get the books, they are more enthusiastic to study.”
“This may appear to be a new concept but if you recall, we used to borrow books from our seniors or neighbours when there was no supply. This is now the new normal in our schools, and students have handed over their books. Not all books were in great shape but whatever we were able to get has been distributed among kids. We have dedicated a room to store the books. Students promoted from class 4 to 5 hand over their books to us, which will help their juniors moving from class 3 to 4. The older student too is benefited from his seniors,” Bailappa added.
Block Education Officer (BEO) BN Marigowda said, “Because of Covid-19, there has been a delay in printing of textbooks and we were prepared for it. Last year, despite the lockdown we got books on time but this year, there has been a delay due to the second wave. We have collected books from students.”
In some government schools, the occasion of distributing midday meal rations to parents was used to collect books. Siddanna Gowda, headmaster of the higher primary school in Mallahalli village of Surapura taluk in Yadgir district, said some parents were initially reluctant to hand over their wards’ books but they managed to convince them.
Aware of the delay, the Karnataka Textbook Society has written to block education officers, asking them to collect books in good condition from last year’s students and preserve them.
A teacher from a high school in Maragowdanahalli, Mysuru district, said there are 107 students and eight teachers in their institution. “We shared the responsibility and encouraged students to hand over the books. We are yet to distribute the books as we cannot call students to school and since the pandemic situation continues, we are unable to visit them as well. We are waiting for government orders. If Vidyagama starts, it will become easy to hand over the books,” the teacher added.