PESHAWAR, Feb 7: Arrangements are being made to start distribution of free textbooks among the students of the government-run primary schools after the spring holidays, official sources said here on Saturday.

The provincial Schools and Literacy Department has set March 31, as the deadline for distribution of textbooks free of cost among students in all the 24 districts of the province.

The sources said distribution of textbooks in primary schools would start after the spring holidays and for this purpose the planning cell of the Schools and Literacy Department had divided the NWFP in different circles to ensure implementation of the scheme.

Around 150 circles each for boys and girls schools have been prepared by the department concerned. Assistant district officers (ADOs) in their respective districts have been made head of these circles and they will make sure that schemes for both boys and girls schools is executed in time.

"There are eight circles in Peshawar district and in these circles about 656 primary schools would be provided with free textbooks," the sources said.

The number of circles in each district is different and in each circle the number of schools also varies according to the population of that area. Such circles have been made in Swabi, Charsadda, Mardan, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Kohat, Bannu, D.I.Khan, Haripur, Karak besides other districts of the province.

The North West Frontier Province government would provide free textbooks to about 22,000 primary schools in the public sector by the end of March this year, the official sources said.

The provision of textbooks for girls would cost about Rs89 million, while for the boys' primary schools the exercise would cost Rs152.37 million. The project is being undertaken under the Annual Development Project (ADP).

"The number of students in the primary schools stood at 2,131,731 by the end of year 2002, but we have raised the number of textbooks so that books could be provided to all the students," the sources said.

"Right from the pre-primary stage to 1V class students would be provided with a complete set of textbooks. The scheme for girls has been approved while for boys it is under process. It is being ensured that all students get free textbooks by March 30 this year," an official of the Schools and Literacy Department said.