No Blank Pages in Balbharati Textbooks

DCP (Crime) Said Sam Alias David Had Been Contacting Account Holders Across India via Telegram for the Past Two Years

- HT Correspondent

PUNE: After cancelling the decision to introduce a uniform dress code, the state school education department has issued an ordinance rescinding the decision taken during the tenure of former education minister Deepak Kesarkar to include blank pages in Balbharati textbooks.

During Kesarkar's tenure, a decision was taken to include blank pages at the end of each lesson in Balbharati textbooks for Classes 2 to 8 students to note down important words, questions and key points. An online survey was also conducted to assess whether or not the students benefitted from these blank pages.

However, the department has decided to publish the Balbharati textbooks without blank pages from the next academic year.

The government provides free Balbharati textbooks to students in all government-aided schools. Initially, the decision to include blank pages in these textbooks was taken in the academic year 2023-24 to address issues such as increasing weight of students' schoolbags and inadequate writing materials available to students from poor rural backgrounds.