55 percent books reached in hands of students

Students, teachers and guardians have questions about when books of all subjects will reach students of all classes. In response to this question, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) said that books of all subjects will be delivered to students of all classes by February.

However, students can receive books before that. NCTB has a target of delivering 100 percent of the books to students by February 20. If the book distribution process cannot be completed by February 20, it can be extended to February 28 at the most. That is, students will receive 100 percent of the books by next month. This was indicated by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) Chairman Professor Dr. AKM Riazul Hasan in an exclusive conversation with The Daily Post yesterday.

During the Sheikh Hasina government, the book distribution program was inaugurated by organizing a festival on the first day of the year. This time, no event called the Book Festival was organized. The government informed that the government did not want to waste government money by organizing the festival. All kinds of events called the Book Festival were canceled to refrain from unnecessary government spending. But the government handed over the books to the students on January 1. However, the printing industry owners responsible for printing the books failed to print all the books within the stipulated time as per the contract, so the books did not reach the students as per the target.

Not all books have been printed, some rumors are being added to the news that books are not being received on time by a section of social media users. This is having a negative impact on students.

NCTB, the organization responsible for printing government books, said, there is no history of delivering all books to all students on January 1.

Chairman Professor Dr. AKM Riazul Hasan told The Daily Post that this year, orders have been given to print more than 40 crore books. Most of these books have been published. Already, 22 crore books have reached the hands of students. That is, 55 percent of the books have been received by the students. The remaining books will be received by February.

He said that last year (2024) too, books were delivered to all students on March 7. This time, however, it will not have to wait until March. The previous year, in 2023, students received all the books on March 17. In 2022, students received books on March 24. In 2019, students took about four months to receive the books. That year, students received all the books on April 27. Students received all the books on March 13 in 2018. Students received all the books on February 24 in 2017. In 2016, students received all the books on March 22. In 2010, it took about seven months to get the books, and in 2009, the first year of the formation of the Sheikh Hasina government, students received all the books on September 26, which took 9 months to get the books.

The NCTB chairman said that the process of printing books this year has been very different from other years. A tender was given at the beginning of last year to print this year's books, but that tender has been canceled. This is because, after the July Revolution, an initiative was taken to revise the textbook. The history of the revolution has been included in the book. This took a lot of time. There was no work to revise the books in the previous year. An initiative was taken to publish the books earlier. But this time it took more time to revise. Then a tender was called. Changes have also been made in the tender, the cost has also increased. It also took time to determine and pass this increased cost.

He said that 5.23 billion more books are being published this year than in other years. This is a major reason for the increase in cost. It took until November 2024 to finalize the tender. When the tender was finalized in November, there was an indication of uncertainty about getting all the books by December. But the Printing Industry Owners Association assured us that they would print all the books within a month and that they had such capacity, but in the end it turned out that they could not do what they said in reality. 116 institutions were allowed to print these 40 crore books. They jointly assured to print an average of 1 crore 42 lakh books daily. According to that, the printing work was supposed to be completed in just 28 days, but they could not show the information they gave about the capacity in reality. They are able to print only 40 lakh books on an average. That is, there is a daily printing deficit of 1 crore 2 lakh.

NCTB alleged that, the printing industry owners are trying to do business from all sections. They want to do business with paper at a relatively low price instead of paying paper as per the contract. They also try to offer cheaper ink, cheaper art cards and glue used in binding at lower prices. The government is being affected by this. The NCTB chairman said that NCTB is providing all kinds of assistance to the printing industry owners to get the books quickly.

Mohammad Shafiullah, an assistant teacher at Purba Gaimara Government Primary School in Lalmohan Upazila of Bhola district, told The Daily Post that all the students from classes one to three in his school have received books in all subjects. But the students of classes four and five have received 50 percent of the books. Education officials said that the remaining books will also be received soon.

Bangladesh Printing Industry Association Chairman Md. Rabbani Jabbar and Secretary Md. Kausar-uz-Zaman Rubel could not be reached even after calling them on their mobile phones several times to find out how long it would take to print the books given free by the government. As a result, the information about the printing house could not be obtained.