The students of primary schools at Sripur upazila in Gazipur are not happy as they have been provided torn out books in new year instead of new text books which they have been expecting.
The government distributes new books among the students across the country at the beginning of year. But the students of the upazila are given substandard books.
Sources said teachers of several schools gathered in front of district education office to collect books on Tuesday.
Then they were told that they would get new books. But while the books were distributed, it was found that most of books were damaged and the pages were torn out which cannot be used.
At first they denied to take the books. But the administration forced them to take it.
A teacher of Nagar Haola Government Primary School, requesting anonymity, said the books were in poor condition that it could not be used after few days.
“We have been forced to take the books. We also protested the incident,” he said.
Helaluddin, assistant teacher of Shishu Kanon, said 50% of the books were damaged and it could not be read as the letters are not clear. Habibur Rahman, headmaster of Mamoni Academy and School, said 90% of books were useless. The books could not touched as the pages were loose, he said.
When contacted, Atikur Rahman Khan, the upazila education officer, said: “We have no godown to accommodate the books. So, the books might be damaged due to wet climate.”
The government started the distribution of free books to students up to secondary level in 2010. Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Wednesday said all preparations had been taken to celebrate the textbook festival across the country today.
This year, the government will distribute 33.37 crore textbooks to around 4.4 crore students of pre-primary to ninth grades for the next academic session.