Parents and students queued up at the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation on the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) campus on Monday to purchase Plus I textbooks, which are based on the revamped syllabus.
While classes commenced for students of Class XI in government and aided schools, many private schools will reopen next week after.
S. Sumathi, a parent who had come to purchase textbooks for her daughter studying in an aided school, said that the students had been asked to access the first unit of their subjects online for a week.
“We were not able to get Commerce textbooks and were told that they will be available in a week,” she said.
A few science students said that they could not get Computer Science textbooks and were informed about the delay.
Around 20.42 lakh textbooks for Class XI have been printed for sale and 46.56 lakh textbooks printed for free distribution in schools.
The Textbook and Educational Services Corporation has also facilitated online registrations and purchase of textbooks, which would be delivered at their homes within two or three days of placing the order.
‘No need to panic’
“For students as well as retailers, we have opened the online facility on Monday. No preference is being given to retailers and we have ensured that the books are made available to everyone. There is no need to panic as we have enough textbooks and the distribution will be completed by the end of this week,” said D. Jagannathan, managing director of the textbook corporation.
“For schools where the books will be distributed free, they have been sent to district education offices,” he added.
As many private schools chose to distribute textbooks to students themselves and include their cost in the school fees, they have been given the option to register online for procurement.
The books will be available in 22 godowns across the State, and the schools can collect the books from there for distribution.