Preparations are underway to release the new book in December, but there are fears in mind

News Desk: The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) has started the process of printing about 350 million free books for next year. However, due to the Corona situation, there has been uncertainty in printing quality books and delivering the books to the students on time.

It has been learned that in the 2021 academic year, about 35 crore books will be made for four and a quarter crore students of primary and secondary level. With this goal in mind, NCTB has started making books in a timely manner.

However, due to the corona's timely delivery of raw materials to the country, the printing workers are worried that the corona will be affected, and despite the suspicion of printing quality books at low prices, preparations are underway to deliver books to all educational institutions by December.

The government has been providing free new books to primary and secondary students in the country since 2010. Following this, the process of printing more than 250 million books at secondary level and 100 million books at primary level has started next year.

However, the Bangladesh Printing Industry Association, an association of printers, thinks that it is not possible to provide quality books due to low prices. They say that due to Corona, the call for tenders has been delayed for a month, raw materials have to be imported from abroad in a timely manner and there are doubts about the sudden loss of workers and new workers due to the risk of Corona infection.

When asked, Shahid Serniabat, president of the Bangladesh Printing Industry Association, said the book was being printed.However, this time it took a month to call for tenders. However, it is possible to give books at the time that is available.But there are doubts as to whether it will be possible to provide quality books.

He said that due to the current crisis, there is uncertainty about getting quality books as the price of printing has come down. The disasters that occur in other years, such as power outages, sudden price hikes, or labor crises, Eid or Puja, are not here.

So these are very minor issues for us. The main thing is that if there are 500 workers in a factory, if one of them is infected with corona, then everyone will leave. Because the distance from one worker to another is not even six inches. Then again it will take about a week to hire new workers. As a result, the work will be delayed. We have to import many things from abroad. In the current situation, it has become complicated. He added that many new companies have taken on a lot of low-cost work. It seems quite risky. The board should have looked at their infrastructural capabilities and given them work based on prior experience.

If you give them work without showing them, it seems that the books will be at risk. The most important thing is to make the book quality. And now if good books do not reach the students, it will be a big embarrassment for the government. According to the NCTB, 35.5 million books were printed and distributed last year for free distribution among 4.5 crore students at primary and secondary levels (including madrasas, technical). Last year, the government spent about one thousand crore rupees to provide free books. However, in the midst of the epidemic, the NCTB is preparing for the book festival in time.

Professor Narayan Chandra Pal, chairman of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, said work was going on as usual. The demand for primary and secondary books is around 35 crores. The exact calculation cannot be said right now. Some demand is still coming. I will be able to give books to all educational institutions in December. He said the demand has been collected online from the educational institutions this time due to the Corona situation, though it is calculated on paper every year. Due to this the demand for additional books has decreased a bit.