All primary and secondary level students may not get the complete set of their free textbooks on the first day of 2024, as the manuscript of Class-9 textbooks is yet to be completed, and printing of some Class 6 and 7 textbooks has not even started yet.
Speaking to The Business Post, Prof Md Moshiuzzaman, Member (Curriculum) of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) said, “About 34 crore pre-primary, primary and secondary books are being printed for about 4 crore students across the country.
“Of the figure, 23 crore are for secondary, and 9 crore for pre-primary and primary students.”
NCTB sources say around 2.13 lakh books printed in five special languages will be distributed among 94,275 ethnic students (Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Garo and Sadri) from pre-primary to third grade.
This time, Braille books will be distributed to 9,196 visually challenged students.
Printing houses say they did not get the manuscript of Class-9 textbooks, printing of some books of Class 6 and 7 has not been started, and printing of all secondary books has not begun as yet.
Tofael Khan, president of the Bangladesh Textbook Printing and Marketing Association, said, “We need till February next year to provide all the textbooks, as the NCTB could not provide the manuscript in time.
“But 80 per cent of books can be distributed among the students on the festival day.”
“We are trying to provide all the textbooks among the students from January 1 next year,” said Prof Md Moshiuzzaman.
Textbook fest could get delayed
The textbook festival, which usually takes place on the first day of a new year, may get delayed due to the upcoming national parliament election. The Education Ministry has written a letter to the prime minister seeking her permission to postpone the festival to a later date.
Dr Dipu Moni had recently said, “It will be tough to organise the textbook festival on January 1 next year because of the parliamentary polls. We are trying to organise the festival on January 11 or 12. We are now waiting for the prime minister's directive in this regard.”
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurates the festival every year. After that, the education ministry, and primary and mass education ministry organise the festival separately. A festive mood prevails at all the educational institutions across the country during this event.
Allegation of substandard primary books
There are allegations and criticism from various quarters that the primary textbooks have been printed with low quality papers. Following this, the NCTB issued a notice to the printing presses not to provide any books or any information to the media.
“We have noticed that the primary textbooks which are being printed lack quality. But the NCTB has been silent on the issue for reasons unknown,” said Bangladesh Textbook Printing and Marketing Association President Tofael Khan.
Md Ruble, owner of Agrani Printing Press, who secured the tender for a good number of primary textbooks, said, “We provided the textbooks as per NCTB's demand. I decline to comment any further on the matter.”
Meanwhile, NCTB’s Prof Md Moshiuzzaman said, “Criticism on social media hampers the production of textbooks. We do not want to provide any books to the media before distribution. We are trying to maintain the quality of textbooks.”
Boosts enrollment, cuts dropout rates
Educationists believe that the distribution of free textbooks – which has been going on for more than a decade – has helped increase school enrollment at all levels, and helped reduce dropout rates.
Professor Emeritus of Brac University Dr Manzoor Ahmed said, “This is a reality in our country that many are not capable of buying new books for their children every year. A set of textbooks would currently cost around Tk 2,000 – Tk 3,000.
“Many students used to drop out due to being unable to buy textbooks. After 2010, enrolment rate has increased tremendously due to free distribution of textbooks from pre-primary level to secondary level.”
Previously, the government used to distribute free textbooks only at the primary level. NCTB sources said the government has distributed over 470 crore books to the students in the past 13 years at a cost of Tk 1,000 crore each year.
