KARACHI, Jan 6: The Sindh Education Department has decided to fix the prices of textbooks being deregularized for printing by the private sector, it is learnt officially.

A meeting held recently to discuss the affairs of Sindh Textbook Board (STB), with provincial education minister, Prof Anita Ghulam Ali, in the chair, was informed by the chairman of the Board that the province was taking measures for implementation of a federal cabinet’s decision in regard to the deregularization of textbooks’ printing on a priority basis.

The meeting was told that some of the textbooks prepared by private publishers, under the deregularization scheme of the government, were being examined by the curriculum wing of the education ministry, and after clearance the private publishers would be required to submit them to the STB for obtaining a no- objection certificate.

At present, the STB is solely responsible for printing and publication of the textbooks used from class I to XII. The Board, among other steps, also arranges for the printing papers and marketing of the books.

The textbooks are printed and prepared at the STB printing press and by private publishers, while curriculum and relevant outlines are given by the federal curriculum body, said an official in the department.

The meeting also decided that the NOC would be issued to private publishers only after checking the quality and prices of the books, the official said, claiming that the decision would help reduce the cost of the books coming from the private publishers.

Sources in the market said that a good number of books were either being imported by publishers and distributors or edited, printed and marketed by the private sector, ignoring the parameters set by the central curriculum body. The books, which are produced independently by the private parties, are generally adopted by the private schools, despite the government’s directive that only the STB-produced books would be taught at schools, both in the public and the private sectors.

However, independent sources are of the view that the decision to allow the private sector to publish the textbooks in a controlled way would decrease the load of the STB. On the other hand, students in the government sector would also be able to get some quality books, as the government had planned in the long run to give the parameters and curricula for the textbooks, which would be followed by the private sector, while developing the text and other details of the books, said sources in the education department.

The meeting held with the minister also decided that distribution of the textbooks for primary classes in government- run schools in the interior of Sindh would start from February 15.

It was further decided that the STB chairman would contact and coordinate with the districts for distribution of the free textbooks. It was noted in the meeting that the directives of the governor regarding privatization of the printing press had not been implemented so far.