Teachers said students particularly in the lower secondary and secondary levels are deprived of English and Nepali textbooks till date.

The District Education Office informed that around 8,400 of the total 28,000 students in the district are deprived of textbooks. Officials at the DEO said the demand for textbooks of grade eight is high in the region as its curriculum was updated.

“We have asked the regional office of Janak Shiksha Samagri Kendra (JSSK) in Dhangadhi to supply textbooks immediately,” DEO chief Shyam Singh Dhami said, adding that they also visited the JSSK regional office for the same. He expressed hope that the JSSK will start supplying books soon.

Mahesh Prasad Bohara, a bookstore owner, said many parents, teachers and students come to his store every day to check if the books have arrived.

Likewise, students of grades nine and 10 are also deprived of some textbooks. They have not yet received textbooks of Economics, Health and Education. Stakeholders said the shortage has affected the academic activities in all nine districts in the region.

JSSK Regional Manager Yogendra Bhatta said they have received demand

for around 80,000 textbooks in the region. “Book delivery will probably start from the next week,” Bhatta said, adding that book supply was delayed by the April earthquakes.