Sengottaiyan justifies school books price hike

“It is wrong to say the prices of books have increased. Quality of books has been improved with a value addition and hence the price. Books will continue to be supplied free of cost to students studying in government and government aided schools,” he said, while participating in the birth anniversary celebrations of freedom fighter Dheeran Chinnamalai in Erode district. 

His reaction comes in the wake of reports that prices of books for Classes 1, 6, 9 and 11 have been increased sharply from this academic year. “A central team was surprised by the quality of lessons in the Class 6 book. There should be no doubts over the quality of books as they were developed on par with CBSE standards. Hence the government has incurred additional expense,” he said. 

Meanwhile, addressing media reports that claimed the results for Class 10 and 12 board examinations might be delayed over teachers’ protest, the Minister said disciplinary action will be initiated against teachers who fail to come for paper evaluation.  

“Only few teachers have failed to come for the evaluation work. An explanation has been sought for their absence. Teachers were not involved in any protest and evaluation is underway for the results to be declared on time,” he said. 

Sengottaiyan also warned private schools which fail to write down fee details in notice board to be kept in their premises.