THE National Curriculum and Textbook Board, an autonomous body, is mainly responsible for the renewal, modification and development of curriculum, production and distribution of textbooks at primary, secondary and higher secondary levels. As the constitution of Bangladesh guarantees a child’s right to primary education as being an obligation of the state, apart from taking other initiatives to encourage education, free and timely distribution of textbooks among the primary school students is, therefore, one of the most important responsibilities of the government. Every year, the board publishes about 6.3 crore textbooks for free distribution among students of government and non-government primary schools and Ibtedayi madrassahs.
   However, the board has probably never been spared of criticism and made news for all the wrong reasons when it comes to the distribution of textbooks. At the beginning of every academic year, the board manages to give fresh evidence of its irresponsibility, incompetence and irregularities. The yearly crises related to textbooks – late and short supply, distorted contents, poor quality, unmodified, substandard old versions to mention a few of the glaring anomalies in textbook distribution – which compound the suffering of thousands of students, exposes the fragile state of our education sector and that of the government’s failure in identifying lapses and being able to address them.
   The problems of late distribution and, at times, non-availability of textbooks at the beginning of the academic year have become chronic. It has almost become an annual woe for school goers. While there is a constant worry that textbooks may not be published and distributed in time, there is the added problem that a number of these textbooks find their way to the local markets where they are sold for purely commercial purposes. From different news reports, it is learnt that there is an organised racket including officials of the textbook board and businessmen who smuggle the books into the local market for commercial sales although they are meant for free distribution and thus prohibited from commercial sales.
   These textbooks, as has been reported, are in demand at non-governmental organisation-run schools and a number of kindergartens schools and the guardians of the students at these schools, who are not entitled to free books, are desperate to buy these textbooks, thus creating a racket of illegal traders. There have been times when such traders were caught red-handed while selling these books. But the law enforcers have never appeared to exert enough effort to investigate the scam or put those involved with the racket behind bars.
   The government’s inaction on this front eventually deprives the poor students, especially in remote rural areas, as they have no access to textbooks and are not able to buy them either. It may be noted that the printing and marketing of notebooks for students up to the level of class eight was banned back in 1988 and tough punishment was prescribed for violators. But as the guardians are forced to buy these books, the publishers don’t want to lag behind either in making a quick buck by printing them and the textbook board authorities intentionally overlook this malpractice as they themselves are the biggest defaulters in the task of publishing and distributing the textbooks on time.
   However, the main reason why timely distribution of textbooks remains a perpetual problem is that often these books are altered and edited anew and given for printing at the fag-end of the calendar year. If printing were to go on throughout the twelve months of the year, there would be enough time to distribute the books on time, a concept that the textbook authorities quite evidently fail to grasp.
   Distribution of old and corrected or modified textbooks is another problem plaguing the textbook board for long, hampering the education of thousands of students. Only on January 20, a New Age report was published stating that almost three weeks into the new academic year, the authorities were yet to provide the modified version of textbooks to the students of more than 80,000 primary schools. In another New Age report of February 7, it was published that the authorities have decided to distribute the new version of Bangla textbooks to 37 lakh, out of a total of 44 lakh, children in class I while providing the rest of the seven lakh students with the older version and thus depriving this huge number of children from the modified textbooks. This decision was taken, according to the board, to save money as there were around seven lakh extra copies of Bangla textbooks, printed in 2006, that were still piled up in the stores and hence, had to be used.
   It is good that the government was conscious about saving public money and were trying to check the wastage of it. However, any measure that hampers the education of children should be immediately discarded as the state must consider the printing, publication and timely distribution of the latest textbooks as among its most important responsibilities. It should in no way look at it from the point of view of profit and loss but rather concentrate on improving other sectors to arrange funding so that access to basic education becomes easier for all.
   There are also a number of other problems related to distribution of old and modified textbooks. On February 9, a New Age report detailed the problems related to used textbooks and how those poor quality books have been hampering studies of about 80 lakh primary school students. Every academic year the students are provided with three used and three new textbooks in order to save resources. However, there are complaints from the teachers as well as the students that the condition of some of these textbooks are very poor as many have torn or missing pages while some have all the exercises filled in by the students of the previous year. There are also complaints that the students who have failed in the final exam and are to repeat the year don’t get their books on time as they have already submitted their textbooks and the books have been distributed among new students.
   Recycling textbooks is not a new concept. Besides a number of other countries, the United States and Chinese governments follow this practice. In a developing country like Bangladesh, the decision to distribute recycled textbooks is all the more understandable as this enables the government to save a significant amount of funding which can be utilised for further improvement of the education sector. But while doing so, the government, the relevant ministries and most importantly the textbook board must remain ever conscious and give top priority so that the students don’t get affected or their education hampered.
   Clearly, there is lack of accountability and coordination in the activities of the textbook board. There isn’t any coordination among any of the institutions concerned i.e. the ministry and the textbook board, and the officials there are also not sincere in discharging their duties. Given the dire lack of any sign of genuine concern or show of responsibility, one is wont to wonder whether these people holding responsible positions at the education ministry even realise the gravity of their duty. The state and society are duty-bound to make arrangements and provide facilities for all to acquire basic education and are to take severe actions against those responsible for failing in or creating hindrances in fulfilling this responsibility.
   There is much talk of nation building and the key figures of the military-controlled interim government issues such calls every few days, the most recent being one where the chief adviser asked all to shed all differences of opinion and ideologies and engage with this goal in mind.
   Education of our children is undoubtedly one of the best investments that our country can make, one that will bear fruit in the long run. In the meantime, the government should take steps so that no clumsy experiments are undertaken with the education sector – meaning that the children who will shape the future of this nation aren’t sabotaged by the irresponsibility and incompetence of our public officials.