Textbook delay costs 2 academic months
Millions of schoolchildren in the capital city and elsewhere have already lost almost two months of the academic year 2008 for not getting the necessary textbooks due to delay in delivering those by the authorities.
Students said the delay in getting new books has affected their study and it will be difficult for them to finish the course in time.
Moreover, the primary and secondary textbooks available in the market bear enormous spelling mistakes, factual errors, poor quality paper and frail binding, though the students and guardians had to pay higher prices for those.
"Teachers give us lessons from old raggedy books but we could not follow or finish our home works because we are yet to get all the necessary books," said Meem, a class eight student of Donia AK High School and College in the city.
"I had only three books -- Bangla, English and Math -- in January," she added.
Iffat Kabir, a class eight student of Mohammadpur Preparatory Higher Secondary (Girls) School said, "I had Bangla second paper class test on February 16 but I could not buy new books on the subject before February 15."
"Marks of class tests are added to the total marks at the end of the year. So the delay in getting books will affect my results," she added.
"After buying the new books in mid-February I discovered that one of the books had upside down print in several pages. The binding is falling apart. There are two different colours of paper in one book," added Iffat.
A class six student of Railway Government High School said, "I have managed several used books from one of the senior students. They are raggedy and have scribbles all over. And I feel bad starting with someone else's old books."
According to National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB), around 1.93 crore copies of secondary level textbooks have been printed this year. Eighteen lakh more books were expected to hit the market in a day or two. But publishers said still there will be a shortage of around 32 lakh books.
The books are printed and marketed through 155 printing and publishing houses.
The usual printing season of textbooks is from November to March. Secondary level books are usually printed in three phases and marketed by January 21.
Most parents and students said they had to pay additional Tk 10 to 12 for each book although secondary level books are supposed to be sold at a subsidised price.
Monirul Islam Bhuiyan, a resident of Donia, said, "I had to go to Banglabazar five times till mid February to buy the whole set of books for my son. But I did not get more than three books before the end of January.”
“The sellers asked for more than the original price. I had to pay double the price for the entire set," he alleged.
Ashit Das, father of a class two student at Siddheshwari Girls High School, said, "I managed several used books in January but I did not want my kid to start her school year with old books. She did not find her studies interesting because of old books."
Headmasters of different government schools of the city complained of serious spelling mistakes in different books. "Teachers have to correct the spellings when they give lessons. There are factual errors too," said one of the headmasters on condition of anonymity.
The teachers said they would take makeup classes during holidays to complete the syllabus in time. “We have to take makeup classes almost every year either for book shortage or for other problems such as political programmes,” said another teacher.
Asked about the ongoing shortage of books, Abu Taher, president, Bangladesh Publishers and Booksellers Association said, "This year the textbook board made a mistake in assessing the demand for textbooks. Usually they sit with us before the printing season and we fix an estimated number of books to be printed, but this time they did not sit with us."
"Many children in Bangladesh usually rely on old books because they cannot afford to buy new ones. Around 30 percent of the demand is met by old books. The average demand is ascertained based on this percentage," he said.
Taher mentioned that this year secondary students opted for new books for various reasons which might have created the crisis.
Explaining the possible reasons, he said many new topics including liberation war and rights of the physically challenged have been added in the new textbooks of class 6, 7 and 8. The 2010 examination will have new form of questions and rules. Samples of these questions have been printed in the new books for class 9.
"This is one of the reasons why the students have opted for new books. Another reason is the Vocational Education Board has started to use NCTB books from this year. The vocational students have bought around 80,000 books, creating additional pressure," he observed.
"We informed NCTB about the book shortage verbally on January 17 and officially on January 20. We also held meetings on January 27 about the textbook crisis and distribution mismanagement. However, they still remain silent," Taher said.
Contacted, Professor Dr M Masir Uddin, chairman, National Curriculum and Textbook Board, admitted the shortage of books.
He said, “We are aware of the secondary level textbook shortage in the market. The problem is being addressed. Eighteen lakh new books are now in printing process. The new lot will hit the market by February 24.”
“We have also identified a disparity between the prices of paper and primary level books. NCTB always gives subsidy on paper so that guardians can buy textbooks at a low price,” he said replying to a question of higher prices of books.
“We are working to find a permanent solution to the crisis that comes almost every year. We are trying to find out a solution that will be acceptable to everyone,” he said.
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