TEXT-BOOKS
Students who are getting education through Urdu medium have been facing great difficulty regarding text-books since long. Many Urdu speakers in different states complained that Urdu textbooks published either by State Government or by Private Publisher's were not upto the mark. It was also complained that text-books were generally not available on time.
It was brought to our notice in different states that original text-books were written in regional languages and translated into Urdu. The translation in most cases was not upto the mark and terminology used for a specific concept was different from one text- book to another. The result is that a student reads a term for a particular concept in Class VI and in the text-book of Class VII the term for the same concept is quite different, thereby confusing the students. Some of the Urdu speakers were demanding that Urdu terminology for Social and physical sciences should be standardised.
Availability of text-books for the classes I to XII has always been a serious problem in many states. Conceding this problem, the Gujral Committee has made the following comments and recommendations:
"There have been persistent complaints from Urdu speakers about the non-availability of Urdu text-books in several states....... Even where Urdu text-books had been
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published they were not readily available in the market or became available so late that the students in sheer desperation changed over to other medium. The publication of text-books after the academic session has begun is selfdefeating. The State Governments must ensure that all Urdu text-books are not only printed but are also made available in the market well before the beginning of the academic session. (4.323)
The distribution machinery for Urdu text-books will also need considerable toning up. Where no such machinery exists, it will have to be created to ensure that the complaints do not recur. (4.324)
The price of paper has risen steeply and since most of the new text-books in Urdu are printed by the offset process, the cost of printing and of effective improvements in the standard of production have also gone up. For an average student, particularly, if he belongs to a weaker section of the society, it is now extremely difficult to afford such text-books. Government may, therefore, consider subsidizing the production of Urdu textbooks. (4.325)
Apart from the quality of production, the quality of translation as also of the contents required attention. There were complaints that translations were being entrusted to people who were not fully competent to undertake the job. It was also brought to our notice that the text-books obtained from other States did not contain material of local interest particularly
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for the primary and secondary students. There were also deviations from the syllabi prescribed by the borrowing States. It would, therefore, be necessary to examine carefully the books produced by private publishers as also by other States to see if they fully satisfy the requirements of the State concerned". (4.326)
Andhra Pradesh The Education Secretary stated that there was no problem of text books for Urdu medium schools. Text-books are nationalised and compiled by NCERT and 70% of them are printed in Government Text Books Press while 30% are printed by Private agencies. However, the Secretary referred to a constraint that lead to some difficulties. He said that-the State's requirement of paper for this purpose was 5,900 tonnes. But the Union Government supplied about 2,000 tonnes, which came from Hindustan Paper Corporation at the cost of Rs. 11,000/- per tonne. The State Government has to wait upto November or December and then resort to purchase of paper in the open market to bridge the gap. This paper costs anywhere from Rs. 15,000/- to Rs. 16,000/- per tonne.
The Government published 3.2 crores of books out of which Urdu books would be a few lakhs. For Junior colleges, Text-Books are prepared by the Bureau for Promotion of Urdu. So far, first volumes of History, Civics, Economics and Physics have been made available. First volume of Mathematics is under preparation.
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Bihar The only complaint regarding text-books in Bihar is that most of the text-books are not made available to the students on time. It was complained that the text-books were made available so late that the students were forced to purchase the books of Hindi medium.
Delhi Text-books from Classes I to XII are prepared by NCERT. These text-books are prescribed in the schools run by Municipal Corporation of Delhi and New Delhi Municipal Committee.
86 text-books are prescribed from Classes I to XII but only 45 text-books are available.
Witnesses pointed out that because of lack of text-books and shortage of Urdu medium teachers, the results of Urdu medium schools are being very badly affected.
For example, in Zeenat Mahal School (Evening Shift), 78 girl- students of Class X failed in Mathematics and Science examinations for which text-books in Urdu are not available.
Gujarat Text books for Urdu medium education are provided by the State Text-book. Some intellectuals told us that these books were sub- standard. But what is amazing and also agonising is that there is no Urdu press anywhere in Gujarat. Books are printed outside or "Kitabat" (calligraphy) is done in Delhi or elsewhere
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and the books are printed on photo offset in Ahmedabad.
A suggestion has been made that
(i) the Government should set up Urdu section in its press for printing Urdu text-books and Urdu Academy books etc.; and
(ii) the Government should assist to set up an Urdu printing press as a small-scale industry.
Haryana: All Urdu text books are available. Text-books prepared by N.C.E.R.T. and Maktaba Jamia are prescribed in the Urdu medium primary school, which is privately run.
Maharashtra: Maharashtra has an independent Bureau of Text Books for the Elementary Education and Board of Secondary Education upto class X. Special Text-Books for classes I to VII are prepared by the Text Books Bureau and for classes VIII, IX and X by the Board.
Rajasthan: The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) Udaipur gets the books prepared and Rajasthan State Text Book Board publishes and distributes them to booksellers. This is done in respect of classes I to V Urdu medium, for all subjects and from classes VI to VIII for Urdu Language only. New
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Publication of Urdu language books from Classes I to VIII is in progress. Availability of books in other subjects in Urdu is scarce.
Urdu language text-books of classes IX to XII are approved by the Board of Secondary Education. Invariably books prescribed in U.P. are prescribed in Rajasthan also for these classes. New books of Urdu are scarcely written and invariably, outdated and old books are used. Urdu representatives demanded that the said Board must get them prepared and published as it does for other subjects.
Uttar Pradesh: There are 33 text-books for classes I to VIII. The Spokesman of the Department of Education stated that all the books were available in the market. But Anjuman Taraqqi Urdu (UP) informed this Committee that only 25 out of 33 books were available last year and these books were printed in such a small number that many students had to purchase Hindi medium books.
Many of the representatives complained of the non-availability of text-books. They suggested that Urdu Directorate or Urdu Academy should be made responsible for preparing and printing Urdu Lext--books.
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West Bengal: There are Urdu medium schools from classes I to XII. State Urdu Academy prepares and prints the books for the students on behalf of the State Government. So far the Academy has published 19 text-books for students from classes VI to X.
The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education has prepared and published books on Mathematics for Classes VII to X. West Bengal Urdu Academy has published Urdu translation of these books. The Academy has also published the Urdu literature textbooks (Muntakhabat-e-Urdu) for Madhymik (Classes IX-X) examination on behalf of West Bengal Board of Secondary Education.
The Academy has published 8 books for the students of higher secondary (Classes XI to XII). This includes Urdu literature text books (Muntakhabat-e-Urdu) for Higher Secondary (XI & XII) published on behalf of the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education.
There are many private business organisations which are publishing text-books for different classes for classes I to XII and as such there is no dearth of text books in Urdu Language.
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