Students who qualified POLYCET 2023 and have secured admissions in government polytechnic colleges across the State this academic year have an advantage over their predecessors. They are spared the burden of scouting for their course-related textbooks in the market, as they are being supplied with textbooks approved by the State Board of Technical Education and Training (SBTET) right in their colleges.
For the first time, the SBTET has designed and curated textbooks at the suggestion of Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy who will formally release the textbooks immediately after his return from the United Kingdom.
“The government recognised the difficulty of the polytechnic students with regard to collecting relevant study material from the market on their own. To spare them hardships, the Chief Minister asked SBTET to design and curate the books from the current academic year,” said Chadalavada Nagarani, Commissioner, Technical Education and Chairperson, SBTET.
Most students pursuing education in Polytechnics come from low-income families and the high price of the books is another drawback, said Ms. Nagarani, adding that the decision to keep the price of the books below ₹100 will be an added advantage to students.
A marathon exercise preceded the printing of the Board-approved textbooks with relevant study material that aligns with the high standards aspired to by the government. After a detailed analysis of the parameters, the blueprint for printing of quality textbooks and laboratory manuals at low cost was put in place.
A list of senior and efficient faculty from government and private Polytechnic colleges was made and separate editorial committees were formed for each subject. Ms. Nagarani said officials of the Technical Education Department and the State Board of Technical Education Council jointly designed a scientific format for printing of textbooks and lab manuals.
A total of 46 authors and 20 editors were involved in curating the textbooks based on the guidelines of the National Board of Accreditation and with constant support of the Principal Secretary, Skill Development and Training, S. Suresh Kumar.
She said the content was subjected to multiple reviews at a series of editorial meetings before it was finalised for printing. Web links for additional resources and digital links for audio visual educational information have also been given in the books and question banks to prepare for diploma exams are also available in the textbooks.
For the current academic year (2023-2024), 17 textbooks for theory and 10 lab manuals have been published for subjects like Automobile, Civil, Mechanical, Electronics and Communication, Electrical and Electronics and Computer Engineering.
