LARKANA, May 29: Unavailability of grade nine and ten textbooks in schools in Larkana division has considerably disturbed the academic calendar.

A number of books of grade nine and ten are not available, along with a couple of books of grade one and six.

Under the Reform Support Unit (RSU), a programme funded by the World Bank, free textbooks are to be distributed across Sindh among students from primary to matric level by the education department.

Officials at the office of secondary district officer told Dawn that the Larkana district education officer, so far, had not received textbooks for grades nine and ten, to be distributed in three English medium Schools in Larkana city.

Shortage of mathematics books was reported from Ratodero, while the books unavailable in schools in Bakrani taluka include: grade seven English, grade nine Pakistan Studies, grade nine Sindhi and grade nine English. Moreover, in Dokri taluka, books of grade ten mathematics and grade six English have not been received, they said.

For this the office of secondary education in Larkana had sent a list of secondary students to the RSU, estimating the number of students to be around 61,000, said officials in the Larkana district education office. Though the academic calendar began in April books were dispatched on May 6, they said.

On the other hand, when contacted the RSU official looking overseeing the shipment of textbooks, Amir Ali Qadri, expressed surprise since according to him books had been sent a week ago and had also arrived at the warehouses concerned in Larkana.

He said that it was quite surprising that the local officers did not know anything about the arrival of books.

However, when asked how many books had he dispatched to Larkana he said that he did not have exact information, which would reach the Sindh Textbook Board (STB) with receipts on Thursday. Then he can tell about the exact figure of the sent books, Mr Qadri said.

Dawn was able to confirm that around 3,000 copies of grade ten mathematis textbooks had arrived in Larkana warehouses.

The delay had been caused because the STB had gotten books printed two months later, another source in the RSU said.

However, officials in the director education office said that they had not received a single copy of textbooks of grade one and kindergarten, locally known as ‘kutcha-primary’.

The officials said that they were in touch with the RSU and were trying to resolve the matter as soon as possible since summer vacation is about to begin.