Students Have Yet to Receive All Textbooks, Waiting Time is Increasing

Chittagong Bureau    |    ০১:৩৩ পিএম, ২০২৫-০২-০৫

A month has passed since the new academic year started, but students have not received all their books yet. Some students have received only three books, while others have received just two. Even in schools where Bengali-medium primary students have received one to three books, no English-version textbooks have been delivered yet. Furthermore, secondary school students have not received any subject-specific textbooks for grades nine and ten. Most others have received only three books each.

Officials say it may take until February for all books to arrive, meaning students will have to wait even longer to get their textbooks. This delay raises concerns about the ability to hold classes according to the scheduled timetable, and experts fear this might lead to learning deficits for the students.

Meanwhile, in Chattogram, 64% of the books for primary education have arrived, but only 30% of the secondary-level books are available. The delay in the arrival of the free textbooks for the new academic year is attributed to last year's political situation, delays in finalizing textbook additions and deletions, and delays in issuing printing orders. Although authorities had initially promised to deliver all books by January, they failed to do so. However, teachers have been advised to use textbooks available on the NCTB website to continue regular classes to minimize educational disruptions.

According to the District Primary Education Office, of the six upazila education offices, five (except Chandgaon) have received 100% of the pre-primary books. In 15 upazilas, including Hat Hazari, Fatikchhari, Raozan, Rangunia, Boalkhali, and Karnaphuli, no books have been received yet. Only schools under the Chandnaish upazila and the Pahartali police station education office have received all the Bengali-medium books, while others have received between 40% and 70% of the required books.

As per the District Education Office, Chattogram has a demand for 24,432,093 copies of textbooks at the secondary level. Of the total, 1,686,994 students belong to various categories, including Ebtedayi, Dakhil, Dakhil Vocational, Secondary Vocational, Secondary Bengali, and English Medium. However, only 5.3 million books have arrived, which is only 30% of the required amount. Books for grades six and ten have arrived fully, while only three books each for grades seven, eight, and nine have been received.

In Chattogram, there are 4,066 primary schools with a total of 1,004,632 students. The demand for new textbooks is 4,418,187 copies. Of these, 294,736 are for pre-primary, 4,034,196 for Bengali medium, and 88,584 for English medium. The number of students in pre-primary to fifth grade in the Bengali medium across the six upazila education offices and all upazilas is 985,534. Of this, 147,368 are in pre-primary, 838,166 in Bengali medium, and 18,790 in English medium. Additionally, 308 students from Indigenous communities in Chattogram require books in their native languages, with a demand for 671 copies, which are distributed in the Sitakunda and Five Lanes police station education offices in Chattogram. Indigenous students from the Chakma, Marma, Tripura, and Garo communities receive textbooks in their mother tongues.