Covid-19 Crisis: New school curriculum delayed by a year
The introduction of the new curriculum by National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) has been delayed by a year. Originally expected to launch in January 2021, the curriculum has been postponed to the beginning of the year next.
Due to the Covid-19 crisis, the distribution of free textbooks among over four crore students studying in primary, secondary and equivalent levels would also become a major challenge.
NCTB officials fear that printing and distributing new textbooks will be difficult for them if the coronavirus situation does not improve soon.
"We are yet to complete the tender process for textbook printing although that usually ends by April," they added.
Hence the decision to delay the introduction of new curriculum by a year, NCTB chairperson Prof Narayan Chandra Saha told The Daily Star on Tuesday evening.
Experts cannot work on the curriculum, hold piloting and train teachers due to the Covid-19 crisis, he said.
The decision was taken at a meeting on new curriculum held at International Mother Language Institute on the day.
Education minister Dipu Moni, deputy education minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury, primary and mass education state minister Zakir Hossen, top officials of secondary and higher education division, technical and madrasa division, primary and mass education ministry and NCTB attended the meeting.
Before the coronavirus outbreak in the country, NCTB was working in full swing. Reviewing of existing curriculum would be completed by 2020 and the new textbooks following would be launched in three phases from January 2021.
According to previous plan, students of class one, two, and four were scheduled to get new book as per new curriculum in January 2021.
Students of classes three, five, seven and nine would get new textbooks in January 2022, while students of the rest of the grades would get them in 2023.
"We will now implement decision in two phase," Narayan said.
Now we are planning that that students of grades one, two and four, who were scheduled to get new book January 2021, will get their books in January 2022.
Tender process for next year's textbooks still incomplete
NCTB officials said that they were yet to complete the tender process for textbooks for the next academic year as offices were closed till May 30 in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus.
Tender for printing textbooks for grades one, two and four has not been released. Tender has been released for printing textbooks for rest of the grades, but they were yet to be opened.
Usually tender process ends by April-May, winning bidders receive work order by June-July and they start printing books in August. The textbooks are delivered in October. Almost all new textbooks reach the hands of students on January 1, first day of the new academic year.
Tender will be opened on June 8 and June 16 respectively, for two groups of new textbooks, said Narayan.
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