Students may not get books on time

Textbook publishers and National Curriculum and Textbook Board officials feared that students of Class VI–VIII might not get some textbooks on the first day of the new academic year as the board was yet to deliver film positives for printing for some books.

‘We have not received all the film positives for textbooks of Class VI– VIII and it is impossible for us to deliver the textbooks by the time set out in the tender documents,’ a publisher said.

He said that all the press workers would go on long leave for Eid-ul-Azha and they would face problems in printing the textbooks and deliver them in time.

The textbook board this year is printing books according to the new curriculum.

Publishers said that they had not yet received the film positives for Bangla, Bangladesh and global studies and information and communications technology books for Class VI, Bangla and Bangladesh and global studies books for Class VII and Bangla and Bangladesh and global studies books for Class VIII.

‘The publishers have completed printing other books but they cannot deliver them as seven of the books are yet to be printed,’ said Tofail Khan, the president of the Bangladesh Textbook Printing and Marketing Association.  

He said that the government should take immediate steps to deliver the film positives.

‘The publishers need time to print textbooks and it will be difficult for the publishers to deliver the books to the textbook board on time if we are late in giving them the film positives,’ an official said.

He alleged that some officials in collusion with some printers were delaying the process so that textbooks could be sold on the black market.

The board chairman, Mostafa Kamaluddin, earlier told New Age that this year textbooks would be delivered to upazilas by October 30 but the board is likely to miss the deadline.

Mostafa said that publishers had not received not film positives for some books.‘But they will get the film positives in a day or two.’

He said that they were late in delivering the positives because of the new curriculum.

Kamaluddin, however, gave an assurance that students would get textbooks on the first day of the academic year.

‘Sixty per cent of the books have already been delivered. Students will get all the textbooks on the first day of the academic year,’ he said.

Source: newagebd.com/newspaper1

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