Textbook crunch in Kerala: Minister steps in as school reopening looms; cover paper dues delayed printing

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With less than two weeks left for the school reopening, Education Minister N. Shamsuddeen has intervened to expedite the lagging printing and distribution of school textbooks across the state.
In a high-level review meeting chaired by the Minister, officials from the General Education Department revealed that 20 percent of the printing work remains unfinished, while only 65 percent of the textbooks have reached students so far. The crisis has been compounded by a complete halt in supply to district textbook depots over the past week.
To mitigate the shortfall, the government has directed officials to prioritise core academic textbooks, while activity-based workbooks are scheduled for delivery by the first week of June. Although the Kerala Books and Publications Society (KBPS) has assured the government of its capacity to print 400,000 books daily, external observers and officials remain sceptical about meeting the 10-day deadline.

Under the newly expedited plan, KBPS must dispatch printed volumes to district depots within 48 hours. From there, the Kudumbashree network will handle decentralised distribution to schools. While printing for Class 10 textbooks is fully complete, production for Classes 6, 7, and 8 is still ongoing, with a significant backlog in the binding phase.

The printing of the state’s annual requirement of 37.5 million textbooks hit a major roadblock due to a financial dispute. Vendor Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited (TNPL) halted the supply of cover page paper over an outstanding balance of ₹140 million (₹14 crore). Although Seshasayee Paper and Boards Limited delivered the inner-page paper on schedule, the production line stalled without cover stock. The government cleared the pending dues only on May 15, triggering the current race against time to avoid an academic dry spell at the start of the school term.