About 10% textbooks of the new academic year have not yet reached schools with only 13 days to go for the new academic year, National Curriculum and Textbook Board officials said yesterday.
Students are expecting textbooks of the new academic year on January 1.
NCTB officials fear that students might not get full set of their textbooks on the first day of the new academic year in some parts of the country.
The delay has been attributed to consecutive shutdowns and rail-road-waterways blockades over the last couple of weeks.
They said all textbooks had been distributed to schools by this time of the year in the last few years
Printers and NCTB officials told the Dhaka Tribune that almost all textbooks had already been printed but they could not be transported to the areas concerned because of lack of transport facilities.
In the last few years, students used to get textbooks on the first day of new academic year.
Narayan Chandra Pal, member (Textbook) of the NCTB told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that 90% textbooks had already been distributed but 10% books have not yet reached the students.
He said one of the trucks carrying textbooks was vandalised while transporting textbooks.
Mizanur Rahman, a printer, yesterday said he had distributed all the books except for Laxmipur and Chandpur. “Truck owners are refusing to go to these two districts fearing violence,” he said.
Abu Naser Sarker, chief executive officer of Hassan Book Depot, said all his textbooks were printed but could not be distributed for blockade programmes.
This year the NCTB is printing nearly 30 crore copies of textbooks for secondary and primary school students.
