School burns text books, students protest

School children in Bihar protested on the streets today after the teachers burnt hundreds of texts books saying they were “outdated”.

The burnt books supplied by the Bihar Education Project under the “Education For All” programme were to be distributed among the poor children.

The matter pertains to Government Mukti Middle School, Tilka Manjhi in eastern Bihar’s Bhagalpur district.

Students alleged the school administration was seeking bribe in lieu of handing over books to them but since they did not oblige them, the school administration set the books on fire.

“The books were outdated and they were burnt to clear rooms”, school principal Bibhash Chandra Jha said.

A senior education department official Amerika Prasad said they had taken the issue very seriously and was registering a case against the erring teachers.