Shifting primary textbook printing to education directorate will not solve problems, says TIB

This will only weaken the NCTB and won't bring any qualitative change in achieving its goals, the organisation says

The Transparency International Bangladesh believes the interim government's initiative to transfer the printing and distribution of primary level textbooks to the Directorate of Primary Education instead of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) “will not solve the problems”.

In a statement on Sunday, the organisation said: "Instead of seeking ways to overcome the governance challenges within the NCTB, entrusting the responsibility for printing, publishing, and distributing primary level textbooks to the directorate is like 'chopping off one's head due to a headache', and it's not a viable solution to the existing problems.

"This will only weaken the NCTB and won't bring any qualitative change in achieving its goals. Rather, the irregularities and corruption of one institution will be transferred to another."

The TIB urged the government to identify the existing flaws across the entire process -- from textbook creation to distribution -- and to take steps to ensure “institutional good governance, including autonomy, transparency, and accountability”.

The NCTB conducts curriculum formulation, printing, publishing, distribution, and marketing for the primary, secondary and higher secondary levels. Every year, books are distributed free of charge to primary and secondary students at the start of the academic year.

Citing consistent failures in timely book supply, concerns over quality, and lack of coordination, the directorate has been attempting to take over the responsibility for printing its own books separately since 2022.

In light of this situation, an initiative was taken to amend the NCTB Act.

The TIB, however, opposed the proposal in the draft amendment to the NCTB law, which suggests printing and distributing primary-level textbooks through the directorate instead of the NCTB.

The organisation’s Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said that NCTB’s autonomy and good governance must be ensured, and any ad hoc decentralised initiative will “not be effective”.

Instead, the government should focus on addressing governance gaps and preventing widespread irregularities and corruption, ensuring accountability for those directly or indirectly involved, he added.

The TIB warned that granting the DPE separate authority for textbook printing would increase crises and lack of coordination. Even with two implementing agencies, decentralisation will not work unless transparency, accountability, and governance are ensured in the process.

Iftekharuzzaman questioned whether the concerned ministry and the directorate could evade responsibility for delays, quality issues, and poor coordination, which are often blamed solely on NCTB.

He noted that inter-institutional conflicts, misuse of power, and obstacles to autonomy have hindered NCTB from performing its duties effectively.

The TIB called on the government to give NCTB full authority over all aspects of textbook development, including tender processes, printing, publishing, and distribution, and to hold accountable those responsible for past failures and corruption.