Editorial
Textbook hassle
Solve the problem once and for all
It is extremely disquieting to see that primary school children in Bangladesh have to suffer from late supply, as well as shortage of textbooks, year after year. It is either that the relevant government bodies have not taken lessons of the past shortcomings in the system and tried to resolve the problem for good, or that the problem is being deliberately bred by vested quarters to benefit from the resultant shortage of textbooks or it is a matter of poor planning and coordination all the way.
It is more than a month that the new education year has commenced, and yet, reportedly, a very large number of primary school students are still waiting for books to reach them.
To add to the woes, those books that are supposed to be sold at subsidised prices are being forced upon the hapless guardians and students at three or four times their actual rates, by creating a shortage in supply. A new dimension has been added to the problem where some old books that are reissued are either defaced or have pages missing, or are too worn out to be of any use by the students.
Why is it, may we ask, that every year books fail to reach the students on time when the education year is known to everyone well in advance? Why is it that there are not enough copies to go round when there is fairly dependable statistics of the number of primary students in the country? And why a stock can't be built up to cater for unforeseen demands?
We would like to ask why, as reported, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) did not take timely action to have additional copies printed, and why was the Publishers and Booksellers Association not given permission to go for printing additional textbooks for primary level when warned of the impending crisis?
We believe that there is substance in the criticism made by the teachers, guardians and booksellers regarding lack of coordination between various agencies involved in the planning, printing and distribution of free primary text books. There is perhaps equal merit in the report that there is an unholy nexus between a syndicate and dishonest NCTB officers behind the crisis by creating artificial shortage.
It is time the relevant authorities geared up the system and removed all the impediments to timely and adequate supply of primary textbooks to the students.
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