Education minister iterates tough action
Siddiqur Rahman Khan
Private publishers and printers have missed the textbook supply deadline of Saturday, as set earlier by the government, according to statistics available with the National Curriculum and Textbook Board.
‘Only 35 lakh out of the total 74.62 lakh copies of textbooks have hit the markets till Saturday evening. On February 3, the private publishing houses and printers were asked to print and market 74.62 lakh copies of textbooks by Saturday, but they failed to do the job,’ said a textbook board official.
The education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, on February 3 told newsmen 74 lakh copies of textbooks would be made available by February 7. ‘In the case of failure in this regard, tough action will be taken.’
The minister Saturday evening told newsmen a meeting scheduled for Sunday would discuss the matter. ‘Tough action will be taken,’ he iterated.
Abul Kalam Azad Sarker, owner of the Hasan Book Depot, one of the publishers which missed the deadline, Saturday evening said he would not talk with newsmen on the issue.
A textbook board official said the publishers and printers would need three more days to complete the work.
Although the same publishers and printers have failed to publish and make available on the market 1.84 crore copies of textbooks by January 31, no action has been taken against them till date. The books include compulsory textbooks — English, mathematics and Bangla.
Courtesy: newagebd.com
