DHAKA: The Muhammad Yunus-led interim government in Bangladesh has yet again failed to distribute textbooks to millions of students nationwide, leaving them distressed and worried about their future.
Former Education Advisor Wahiduddin Mahmud, after missing the January deadline, stated that the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) would complete the distribution of all 40.15 crore textbooks by February.
However, they missed this deadline, too, according to local media reports.
Speaking to the leading Bangladeshi newspaper, The Daily Star, a student stated, "Our teachers only conduct classes for the subjects we have books for. After that, they send us home. I have heard that students in other schools are facing the same issue."
Earlier, hopes were raised when the top officials from the Education Ministry and NCTB, along with various other officials of the interim government, stated that all the students would be provided with textbooks by February.
But the reality seems to be different with the delay again. The more the delivery of books is delayed, the more it harms the education of students.
As per the NCTB data, as of February 19, approximately 70 million (7 crore) books remain to be printed, the majority of which are for the secondary level, according to the country's leading daily, Prothom Alo.
Last month, a distressed student told The Business Standard: "Out of our 10 main books, we received only two during the first week of January. Over the next month, we got four more. But several books are still missing, including core subjects like Mathematics and English."
"Almost half the students in our class have no access to either smartphones for PDFs or unauthorised textbooks. As a result, our teachers have not been able to start giving full-fledged lessons. We are still not sure how much of the syllabus we will need to cover for the half-yearly exams scheduled for June, " she further added.
In January, the Divisional Primary Education Office reported that only 49 per cent of primary and 8.8 per cent of secondary textbooks were delivered in Barisal, according to the leading Bangladeshi daily, The Dhaka Tribune.
In some areas, only a small number of books have been delivered, while in many others, students have not received any books at all. Students and guardians have also expressed their frustrations, complaining that most of them have not received a single book.