The students in Class-VIII and IX will have to wait another week for all the books of the new curriculum to be in their hands.
According to the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) data, 307,083,517 copies of books are being printed for 381,276,630 students in 2024 academic year.
Out of which, 534,842,271 copies of books have been printed for the Class-VIII and 506,845,573 books for the Class-IX. However, the work of about 2 million books in the technical section of these two classes has not been completed yet.
The Production and Distribution Section of NCTB says that books have already been distributed to all primary students. However, there are still some secondary books pending. As of last Thursday, approximately 2 million books for the new curriculum of Class VIII and IX have not been dispatched yet.
Mentionable, these books are produced by two companies: Dasdisha Printers and Mollah Printing Press and Publication.
Mollah Printing possesses approximately two lakh books, but a larger quantity is available from Dasdisha Printing.
Although the printing of these books is complete, the binding process is currently underway. All copies are expected to be available within the next week.
NCTB sources said keeping the election in mind, NCTB has started the bookwork earlier. However, as the manuscripts of Class-VIII and IX of the new curriculum were not finalised within the stipulated time, the work was slightly delayed.
Due to numerous controversies surrounding the new curriculum books last year, the Ministry of Education exercised caution in finalising the manuscript for the new curriculum book this time to prevent any further disputes. Upon completing multiple rounds of verification, the work order has been issued, causing a delay in the completion of these books, the sources added.
When asked, Mintu Mia, the owner of Mollah Printing Press and Publication, told Daily Sun that it took time to get the manuscript in hand. After getting the work order, the books are supposed to be delivered by 24 January this year.
“However, I have already dispatched almost all of my 1 crore 6 million books, with only a few remaining. I will send them within the next couple of days.”
Speaking to the Daily Sun, NCTB Chairman Prof Md Farhadul Islam said, “All classes’ books have been distributed to the students, except for a few districts like Panchagarh. It is anticipated that the remaining books will be delivered by the end of this week.”
There is no shortage of books, and the distribution has been handled efficiently, he added.