Students of Classes 9 and 10 in Assam will get free textbooks from the 2017-18 academic year, as part of the government’s efforts to increase enrolments at state-run schools and bring down the dropout rate. The free textbooks are expected to reach the students by December 25 as classes of new sessions in Assam begin January 1. All students from these classes will receive free textbooks, regardless of their parents’ income, PTI reported.

The notification issued by the Secondary Education Department said the scheme will include all government and provincialised high and higher secondary schools, local body schools, all tea garden schools, all model schools under the Rashtriya Madhyamik Siksha Abhijan and all non-provincialised schools that receive financial incentives. The Assam State Textbook Production and Publication Corporation Ltd will be given the task of printing and distributing the free textbooks.

The director of secondary education will serve as the state nodal officer to oversee the execution of the plan at the directorate level, and school inspectors will be the district nodal officers. A state-level committee will supervise the implementation of the scheme, and a district-level committee will monitor the distribution and receipt of these free textbooks.