In view of the current situation of book distribution, the government is thinking of printing books ahead of schedule for next year.
This year, national curriculum and textbook board (NCTB) authorities could not hand over all the textbooks to all the school students on time.
Due to this bitter experience, this government institution wants to finish the work of printing free textbooks two months before the scheduled time for the next academic year.
In the meantime, tenders have been invited for the printing of various categories of books at the initial stage. Books for classes six and seven are in the process of revision.
NCTB Chairman Prof. Md. Farhadul Islam told Bangladesh Post, “We have already invited tenders for printing books for class six and on March 28 we will invite tenders for printing books of class seven. Within October of this year we want to complete all the formalities so that we can hand over new books to the students at the beginning of next year.”
The printing of textbooks was disrupted this year due to various complications including paper crisis and dollar crisis. All the school level students did not get all the textbooks on time.
In this regard the NCTB chairman said that each year there is a requirement of 1 lakh tonnes to 1.2 lakh tonnes of paper. In this regard we have already informed the owners to take preparation so that we can smoothly complete our process. But if they cannot arrange papers we will go import.
At the last minute, NCTB processed the old books of the previous year and prepared new books. To deal with the situation, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board - NCTB has also given concessions on paper and printing mediums.
NCTB has already held several meetings with paper producers to avoid a paper crisis. The prescribed standards and time are also fixed. Calling for tenders has also started earlier.
Tenders for printing some pre-primary and primary books have already been invited. The call for tenders for books of all other classes, including secondary, will end by April. Chairman of NCTB Farhadul Islam announced the plan to complete the printing of textbooks for the 2024 academic year in October.
This year, the sixth and seventh class books were controversial in various ways. These are in the process of being refined. The NCTB chairman also said that the education officials have been alerted at the field level.
