Textbook delays mar start of academic year in Chattogram

Highlights:

• Only 2% of required textbooks reach secondary schools
• 28% reach primary schools
• Local presses assigned to print textbooks
• Academic year starts on 1 January
• Authorities say 100% distribution to be done by end of January

Uncertainty looms about the availability of new books for students in various educational institutions in Chattogram for the new academic year, with only 2% of the required books reaching secondary schools and primary schools receiving 28%.

Approximately 2,000 students are enrolled in the secondary section of Chattogram Collegiate School. The acting headteacher of the school, Rehana Akter, while talking to TBS at 3pm today, said, "We have not received any new books yet. We also have no information on when they will arrive."

Bangladesh Mahila Samiti Girls High School and College Principal Ariful Hasan Chowdhury said, "We have received some books for classes one, two, and three at the primary level. Beyond that, for class six, we have received 4,025 books in total, comprising seven books per set across 575 sets. For class ten, we have received 1,200 books in total, comprising three books per set."

Officials attributed the delay in book distribution to the political shift, which led to curriculum changes, textbook revisions, and the cancellation of previous tenders followed by the issuance of new ones.

After the political change, the new curriculum was scrapped, and the older curriculum, designed over a decade ago, was reinstated, they said.

Consequently, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) revised 441 books this time with input from experts, said the officials. Alongside omitting certain content, including prose, essays, novels, and poems, topics related to the July uprising are being incorporated, they said.

The officials further said this time, printing presses across the country's districts have been assigned the task of printing textbooks. The books that are being printed are being delivered to schools through upazila education officers.

Since 2010, the tradition of delivering textbooks to students on the first day of the year has been celebrated as a national festival. However, in recent years, it has not been possible to provide all new books to students on 1 January.

What authorities say

According to the NCTB, students of classes six, seven, eight, nine, and ten will receive three books each on the first day of the year. An additional five books for each class will be distributed by 10 January, and the remaining books will reach all students by 20 January.

According to the Office of the Education Officer, Chattogram has 28 lower secondary schools, 566 secondary schools, and 63 school-and-college institutions. Additionally, there are 127 Dakhil madrasas, 36 Alim madrasas, 64 Fazil madrasas, and 19 Kamil madrasas in the district. 

Altogether, the number of students stands at approximately 16,86,994. This year, the total demand for books amounts to nearly 1.74 crore.

District Education Officer Uttam Khisa said, "Some 3,77,000 textbooks for class six and class seven of madrasas have been delivered to educational institutions. The total demand for secondary, Ibtidayi, SSC, vocational, and English medium books stands at 1.74 crore. 

"I visited the printing presses today. Textbooks for Bangla, English, and mathematics for classes seven, nine, and ten are being printed. We hope that all textbooks will reach the students within January."

District Primary Education Officer SM Abdur Rahman said, "Books are being printed every day. This year, the demand for primary textbooks in the district is over 44 lakh. As of Monday, around 11.87 lakh books have arrived. Books have been sent to all upazilas today. 

"However, it may take until 5 January for books to reach Fatikchhari upazila. For now, coordination with neighbouring upazilas has been advised. We hope that all books will arrive by January."