Kokrajhar, Jan. 20: The All Bodo Students Union (Absu) has come down heavily on the Assam State Textbook Production and Publication Corporation Limited and the education department over the shortage of Bodo-medium textbooks though the new academic session started weeks ago.

Absu secretary Kwrwmdao Wary said there was a shortage of over 35 per cent textbooks in Bodo-medium schools.

"In Kokrajhar district alone, there is a shortage of over 10,000 textbooks. In Dotma block elementary education office, there is a shortage of over 21,830 textbooks. In Kachugaon, there is shortage of around 20,000 books while under Gossaigaon block elementary education office there is shortage of over 3,000. In Parbhatjhora, there is shortage of over 5,900 textbooks," Wary said.

He said the textbooks were riddled with mistakes. In class VI maths book, the problems are written in Assamese instead of Bodo from pages 297 to 304. The class VII maths book, too, has the same mistake. In class VIII English textbooks, page numbers are inconsistent.

The union asked why the government failed to monitor such negligence on the part of the corporation.

Wary said the union would file a writ petition in Gauhati High Court very soon.

"Bodo is a very neglected medium of instruction in Assam and because of this we have been demanding a separate directorate for Bodo-medium education. But the government has not given any positive response," he said.

He said the state government should hold consultations on the new education policy.

"In the new education policy, the state government must avoid the discriminatory provisions for the vernacular mediums in the state," Wary said.

Teachers, in the meantime, are facing problems because of the non-supply of textbooks.

"We are yet to get textbooks of classes VI to VIII. For classes XI and X, we have got books for only four subjects and that too not in adequate numbers. We are managing with old books," a teacher in Kokrajhar said.