About 70 per cent copies of the free textbooks are unlikely to be distributed among the students on the first day of 2025.
鈥極n the first day of the next year, about 12 crore of the 40 crore copies of textbooks will be distributed among the students,鈥� National Curriculum and Textbook Board chairman professor AKM Reazul Hassan said on Wednesday.聽
Blaming the printers for the situation, he said that it would take the entire month of January to distribute all of the textbooks among the students.聽
Some of the printers, however, said the distribution of textbooks might end by mid-February.
Delay in the printing due to changes in curriculum after the political changeover, revision of the textbooks, cancellation of previous tenders and fresh tenders are the reasons behind the situation, they added.聽
The learning of the students would be affected by the delay in the distribution of textbooks, observed educationists, adding that the teachers would need to play a strong role in guiding the students in the meanwhile.聽聽聽聽
In 2025, according to the board, 40.15 crore copies of textbooks鈥撯��62 lakh for pre-primary, 8.55 crore for primary and 30.81 crore for secondary students鈥撯�搘ill be distributed among about four crore pre-primary, primary, secondary, secondary vocational, ibtedayi, dakhil vocational, ethnic minority and visually challenged students across the country.
Besides, 1.92 lakh copies of textbooks will be distributed among the students from five national minority communities.
After the ouster of Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime on August 5, the interim government led by professor Muhammad Yunus decided to print textbooks for 2025 as per the 2012 curriculum instead of the new curriculum of 2021.
Following the government decision, the board cancelled the previous tenders and floated fresh tenders for printing the textbooks after the evaluation of the textbooks as per the national curriculum of 2012.聽
Due to the resumption of the 2012 curriculum the number of textbooks increased this year.
鈥榃hy textbooks need to be changed after the changes of the government,鈥� asked BRAC University professor emeritus Manzoor Ahmed, adding, 鈥榳e still remain highly politicised and the tendency needs to be changed.鈥�
He said that as all students would not get textbooks at the same time the teachers would need to guide and teach them to prevent the losses.聽
NCTB chairman AKM Reazul Hassan said that till now about three crore copies of textbooks for Class I鈥揑II were printed and sent to upazilas for distribution.聽
About 1.5 crore textbooks for Class VI鈥揦 were printed and sent to upazilas, he said.聽
About 5.80 lakh copies of the secondary-level textbooks of Bangla, English and mathematics for Class VI鈥揦 would be printed by December 31 and distributed on January 1, he said.聽
The chairman said that the rest of the books were under the printing process now.聽
鈥楴on-cooperation of the printers is the main reason for the delay as some of the printers stopped or slowed down their printing works for creating pressure on us to allow poor quality papers for the textbooks,鈥� he alleged.聽
The board has so far rejected more than one lakh copies of printed textbooks for poor quality, Reazul Hassan added.
Printers, however, blamed delay in the issuance of work order for the delayed printing.
Some printers, seeking anonymity, said that the government even issued a work order for printing on December 19.聽
鈥業f we get approval so late, how can we provide books by January because we need to follow some procedures for bank loans,鈥� one of the printers said.
Textbook Printers and Markets Association of Bangladesh president Tofayel Khan said that they were trying their best to print the textbooks as soon as possible.聽
In 2025, the number of free textbooks increased by about 27 per cent from 31.7 crore copies of textbooks distributed in 2024.聽聽
For 2025, the NCTB is printing extra textbooks for Class X students as per the 2012 curriculum, as there was no division of groups in Class IX鈥揦 under the 2021 curriculum.
The government has been distributing free textbooks for pre-primary to secondary-level students since 2010.
