PESHAWAR, April 18: Textbooks prescribed by the Punjab Textbook Board and the NWFP Textbook Board for the public and government schools are not available at the city book markets.

The textbooks of chemistry, English, Islamiyat and Urdu of SSC part-I are also not available with booksellers, which is frustrating not only for the students but also for the parents. Moreover it is also causing a delay in the start of the new academic year.

“We start class IX chemistry course from class VIII because course is lengthy and subject is difficult, but this year the authorities have changed the textbooks and that too is not available in the market,” Raheela, a chemistry teacher, told Dawn.

A bookseller said prescribed books of the NWFP Textbook Board and the Punjab Textbook Board, which were taught in the government and public schools, respectively, were not available even one week after the beginning of the new session.

“Many parents of the schoolchildren are facing the problem of non-availability of books because teaching has already started in several schools. Most of them argue with us on the non-availability of the required books,” a bookseller told Dawn.

The textbooks of mathematics and social studies for class VI and Islamiyat and mathematics of class VII are also short in the market. The students of class IX also demand Urdu, chemistry and English course books, which are yet to arrive in the market.

The students are perturbed because they face problems in their studies in the new class. Teachers are also worried over the delayed start of the new session.

“The change of textbooks at the advent of the new session is disturbing for the teachers and the students. Non-availability of the new textbooks has worsened the situation. If the concerned board had taken the decision about change in textbooks a bit earlier, this situation could have been avoided,” Saeeda, a teacher in a public school observed.