School textbook distribution begins, festivities marred by delays

Rabeya Akhtar, a student in Class Four came to Rashid Adarsha High School in Mirpur to collect her textbooks on the morning of the first day of the new year. She had to return home empty-handed.

Although her school did not announce that new books would be distributed this time, Rabeya went to school with her mother on Wednesday, as she had for the past few years.

"I always come to collect books on the first day; that's why I came,” she said. “The joy of new books is different, I would open them up and take in that particular smell. But today, none of that happened."

Rabeya's mother, housewife Umme Kulsoom, said that her daughter’s school is unable to provide information on when the new books will be available.

"The books will change anyway, and if there is a delay, it will cause problems for our children’s studies."

The tradition of handing over books to students on the first day of the year began in 2010 under the Awami League administration. It was held last year too.

This year, following the government changeover, schools were not able to arrange it. Teachers were able to hand over textbooks for some of the subjects – not all – to students in Class Nine and Class 10.

The National Curriculum and Textbook Board, or NCTB, had earlier announced that a significant portion of students from Class One to Class Three will not receive any new textbooks on the first day of the year and will have to wait until Jan 20.

Students in pre-primary, Class Four and Class Five will also have to wait several more days for their books while secondary school students will receive books for some subjects in early January.

However, the NCTB says it will publish soft copies of all textbooks online on the first day of the year.

Students in Class Nine and Class 10 at Pallabi’s MDC Model Institute have received books for three subjects- Mathematics, English and Bengali.

Afifa Chowdhury Sarah, a Class Nine student at the school, says: “They did not say when I will get the remaining books. It would have been easier to study if I had received them a little earlier. Now there is uncertainty about when I will get all the books. It is unfortunate. If we got all the books, we could have planned out and completed the syllabus in a scheduled manner.”

This time, Class 10 students will take their Secondary School Certificate examinations in 2026 with an abbreviated syllabus based on the Class Nine books of the new academic year.

Labiba Ayesha Rahman, a Class 10 student at MDC Model Institute, says: “[Class 10 students in other batches] got two years to finish one book and take an exam on it. This time, we will have to study from a new book again in a year. And, even after all that, we are not getting all the books in time, and I don’t know when we will get them.

“There will be an information gap. We cannot complete our syllabus quickly.”

Rashid Adarsha High School Headmaster Debdas Barury told bdnews24.com that his school has received new Mathematics, English and Bengali books.

Debdas said that books were handed over to 10 to 12 students in the classroom this morning.

“We have handed out the books to those children who came. We will distribute the rest when the government sends them. It may take a week or more.”

MANY SCHOOLS HAVEN’T RECEIVED BOOKS

KIDS Campus School in Mirpur-12 teaches students from pre-primary to Class Eight. However, no students were seen at the school on Wednesday.

The school will open on Monday, the school’s headmaster Razia Sultana says. The students will be taught using old books for the time being.

“We haven’t received new books, so what can we do? When the children come to class, we have to teach them basic knowledge. If the books are late, it will be a little difficult. We will teach from old books. If they learn, there is no problem.”

Little Flower’s Preparatory School in Mirpur teaches students from the pre-primary level to Class 10. No student at this school has received new books either.

Umme Sadika, the school’s accountant, told bdnews24.com: “The government hasn’t provided books. When schools reopen on Jan 5, they will teach from old books. Then, when the government provides new books, classes will be held using the new books."