Pry books nearly complete, secondary supply lags behind at Rajarhat

 
RAJARHAT, KURIGRAM, Nov 15:  With the 2027 academic year approaching, textbook distribution in Rajarhat Upazila of Kurigram is facing delays, particularly at the secondary level, raising concerns over whether all students will receive their books on time.

So far, 321,690 textbooks have reached the upazila against the total demand for primary and secondary-level institutions. While primary-level supplies are almost complete, only around 70 per cent of the required books for secondary-level institutions have arrived. No textbooks for Class IX have reached the upazila yet.

According to the Upazila Education offices, a total of 91,100 books are still awaited for secondary schools, Dakhil madrasas and Ebtedayi institutions.

The Upazila Primary Education office said Rajarhat has 123 government primary schools and one Shishu Kalyan School with 19,921 students. Another 6,244 students study at 34 kindergartens.

Against a demand for 96,710 books for Classes I to V, 96,520 have arrived, leaving a shortfall of only 190 copies. This means 99.8 percent of the required books have been delivered. Besides, 7,670 Bangla books and exercise books for pre-primary students have also reached the upazila.

The situation is different at the secondary level. Rajarhat has 43 secondary schools with 14,261 students, 28 Dakhil madrasas with 7,450 students and 29 Ebtedayi madrasas with 7,303 students. Seven technical schools have around 500 students.

Against a demand for 151,800 books for Classes VI to IX in secondary schools, 95,800 have arrived, leaving 56,000 outstanding.

At Dakhil madrasas, 66,300 books have arrived against a demand for 99,900, while 33,600 are yet to be delivered. Ebtedayi institutions have received 55,400 of the required 56,900 books, leaving 1,500 outstanding.

In total, 217,500 books have arrived against a demand for 308,600 for secondary schools, Dakhil madrasas and Ebtedayi institutions. The figures do not include textbooks for technical schools.

The delay has raised concerns among teachers, particularly over the absence of Class IX books. They also said they could not yet properly assess the quality of paper, printing and binding.

Md Ashraful Alam, Head-teacher of Rajarhat Pilot High School, said almost all books for other classes had arrived, except a few, but no Class IX textbooks had been received.

Md Nur Islam, Head-teacher of Chakir Pashar Taluk Government Primary School, said the books had been printed on white paper and their covers looked good, although the inner pages had not been checked for errors.

Md Ayub Ali, Head-teacher of Rajarhat Government Girls' High School, said they had yet to receive their books.

Contacted on Sunday afternoon, Upazila Secondary Education Officer Md Sazzad Hossain said almost all books had arrived except those for Class IX.

"Trucks carrying books are arriving every day. We cannot say for certain when the remaining books will arrive. Once received, they will be distributed through educational institutions as quickly as possible," he said.

A report published on November 12, citing National Curriculum and Textbook Board data, said 98.24 percent of primary-level books and 70.31 percent of secondary-level books had reached upazilas nationwide. Only 30.22 per cent of books for Classes IX and X had been delivered.