Teachers in LDA schools have come up with a novel way of fleecing students: instead of teaching from the government-approved curriculum books, teachers in LDA schools are forcing students to buy, and study from, books authored by them, Pakistan Today learnt on Wednesday. Iqbal Town LDA Model School grade nine students condemned the school’s teachers for forcing their book upon them, and refused to study from a book authored by the school’s Junior Headmaster, Shakil Ahmad Alvi, which had not been approved by the Punjab Textbook Board (PTB).
Students demanded higher officials of the school immediately cease the sale of PTB-unapproved books at the LDA shop located on school premises, and requested that a legal enquiry against the school’s headmaster be begun. Students alleged that Alvi, author of the unapproved book “Irtfa-e-Urdu”, had enforced teaching of his book at the school, leading to the abysmal performance of around 70 percent of the students in the class nine exams. Students alleged that the book’s content was substandard and demanded the Punjab chief minister ensure only PTB-approved books were taught.
LDA School Iqbal town grade nine students on Wednesday demanded from the school that instead of being taught from the substandard “Irtfa-e-Urdu”, written by Alvi, they be taught and tested in school from the PTB-approved “Urdu Kawad-e-Insha”, as the final board exam would be based on the course covered in the latter book. A student seeking anonymity said they were especially worried after the recently announced BISE results, as most students from their school had failed in Urdu because they had been taught from Shakil Alvi’s PTB-unapproved book. He said they only wanted to study from PTB’s approved books.
He added that it was a tragedy that while on the one hand the government was discouraging the use of test papers and private guides at institutions, on the other, the governments own employees were promoting the use of illegal and unapproved books at government schools. A school teacher said they had already highlighted the issue of sale of unapproved books in government schools, but a mafia in favour of selling such books had not allowed the issue to be resolved, giving priority to their own profiteering ahead of the students’ academic suffering. He added that this illegal practise continued unhindered in the full knowledge of the education secretary. Shakil Alvi denied comment on the issue.
