Schoolchildren awaiting free textbooks

Islamabad

The National Book Foundation (NBF) is under fire for failing to provide free textbooks to the students of the government educational institutions in the federal capital.

The children enrolled in the Federal Directorate of Education-run schools get these books free of charge at the start of every academic session.

However, there is a delay in their distribution on part of the NBF, the publisher, this time around to the misery of the students.

Dr Afzal Babur, who heads the Private Schools Network, said it was unfortunate that the NBF had been failing for the last many years to provide textbooks to the schoolchildren in Islamabad.

He said instead of holding book festivals and running publicity campaigns, the NBF should ensure early supply of books otherwise the studies of children would suffer a great deal.

Dr Afzal said the FDE should also play its due role on the matter.

The federal government has been providing free textbooks to students for the last several years in line with Article 25-A of the Constitution under which education is free for the children aged between five and 16 years.