IMPHAL, April 19 - Considering the nationwide lockdown and its impact on the education sector, Manipur Education Minister Dr Thokchom Radheshyam launched e-textbooks for students of class 8 to 10 at his office chamber here .
Commissioner (Education-S) T Ranjit Singh, Director (Education-S) Th Kirankumar Singh, Secretary of Board of Secondary Education Manipur (BOSEM) Dr Chithung Mary Thomas and senior officials of the Education Department were present on the occasion.
Dr Radheshyam said that making the textbooks available in electronic format is one of the many initiatives taken by the government to address the problems in the education sector posed by the prevailing situation arising out of the nationwide lockdown.
Once the textbooks are made available in electronic format, it would help in developing study materials in this format by various stakeholders, he opined.
The e-textbooks will be easily accessible to the students and teachers at times of crisis like the present one triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Stating that education is regarded as one of the most important sectors as it nurtures and nourishes the young minds for a better future, Dr Radheshyam said that there would also be a provision for improving the textbooks further by seeking comments from the public. It will also become the source of early printing of textbooks in times to come.
The e-textbook programme was taken up by BOSEM. Books for class 1 to 8 are prepared by State Council for Educational Research Training while those for class 9 to 10 are in the domain of BOSEM. Now, all the e-textbooks for class 1 to 10, totalling 71 books, would be uploaded soon, he said.
It will take around two weeks to upload all the books. Books in tribal dialects will be uploaded subsequently.
The e-textbooks will be available at the newly designed website � bosemebook.in � developed by X-tremeWave. The textbooks can also be accessed through mobile application �Bosem eBook�, which can be downloaded from Google Play Store.
In addition, the web page will have other features such as year-wise instruction for examiners, blueprint, teachers� guidebook and scanned copies of answer scripts of overall toppers and subject toppers.
The electronic format of comic textbooks for class III, IV and V were also formally launched here on Tuesday.
