Education and Planning Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud said that students will receive all textbooks by February.
He attributed the delay in book distribution to his initial focus on appointing university vice-chancellors and delays in printing textbooks.
Wahiduddin Mahmud made these remarks on Monday during a courtesy meeting with leaders of the Education Reporters Association of Bangladesh (ERAB) at the Planning Commission.
The adviser said: "In the initial days of my tenure, I was occupied with appointing vice-chancellors of various universities. The officials responsible for textbooks assured me that all books would be ready on time. However, later I found that significant work remained to distribute the textbooks."
He added: "Initially, we faced challenges in obtaining art paper, and there was a shortage of paper. With assistance from student representatives, intelligence agencies, and others, the issue of art paper was resolved."
He further said: "There is still a shortage of art paper. Ships carrying the paper have departed from abroad, and we expect them to arrive by the end of January."
Wahiduddin Mahmud sought ERAB's support in advancing educational reforms.
Earlier, on January 7, in response to journalists' questions at the Secretariat, the adviser said: "We started the textbook printing process late. We had to revise the books, update the syllabus and curriculum and increase the number of textbooks. None of the books are being printed abroad, which is testing the country's capacity for the first time. Naturally, this has caused delays."
He also claimed that during the previous government's tenure, textbooks were not fully distributed before March.
