All students will receive their textbooks by March 16, assured Dr. AKM Riazul Hasan, chairman of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB).
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, he stated, “Over 99% of primary-level textbooks and 91.67% of secondary-level textbooks have already been distributed among students.”
He further mentioned that around 10 million textbooks are still in the printing queue, while approximately 25 million books are awaiting binding. However, he expressed confidence that all books will be delivered by March 16.
Riazul Hasan also acknowledged that some areas may receive more textbooks than needed, while others may receive fewer. He assured that any necessary adjustments would be made by the end of March.
At a press conference in the afternoon, the chairman of NCTB stated, “We had tried to deliver all the books within today or tomorrow. Now, we are competing with March 17, 2023—if we manage to distribute them by March 16, we will still be the second slowest from the end.”
During the press conference, he mentioned that around eight weak institutions were not cooperating. However, these institutions do not have a large number of books. “A new curriculum was imposed on us conspiratorially, making it difficult for us to move forward. We are now trying to overcome those obstacles.”
It was revealed that this year, the total number of books for primary and secondary levels exceeds 396 million. As of Monday, March 10, approximately 387.04 million books had been printed.
Out of around 91.9 million primary-level books, over 91.8 million have been printed, and more than 91.6 million have been supplied (PDI). In the secondary level (including Ebtedayee madrasas), of the nearly 304.1 million books, over 295.1 million had been printed by Monday and around 272 million had been supplied.
Earlier, on Monday, deputy press secretary to the Chief Adviser, Azad Mujumdar, stated at a press conference that due to delays in clearing imported paper, some books could not be printed on time. Additionally, the Chinese New Year caused some disruption to the process.
Explaining the reasons for the delay in book printing, he mentioned that this time, 100% of the books are being printed in Bangladesh.
The government has consistently monitored the quality of the books, ensuring both the paper and binding standards were maintained. However, some printing institutions associated with the previous government had attempted to delay the process through subversive activities.
