Govt sets Nov 5 deadline for primary textbook supply

State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj has directed the authorities concerned to complete the supply of all textbooks for government primary school students by November 5. He also instructed printing companies to strictly maintain the prescribed quality standards and specifications.

The minister issued the directives during visits to Barnamala Press and Global Printing Equipment in Matuail, Dhaka, on Thursday.

During the visits, he inspected the textbook printing process, machinery, paper quality and overall printing standards. He noticed inconsistencies in colour arrangements and alignment in several books and warned the concerned officials against allowing such defects to spread across a large portion of the printed books.

Bobby Hajjaj said, taking responsibility for textbook printing meant ensuring compliance with the prescribed standards. The quality of books could not be compromised on the grounds of printing machine capacity or technical limitations. If a company had limitations in its capacity, it should consider them before participating in the tender process, he added.

He further said, printing companies were responsible for ensuring the quality of the books assigned to them by the government. Completing the printing process alone would not be sufficient; every book had to meet the prescribed standards.

The state minister said, ensuring the delivery of quality textbooks to students was the government's responsibility and that negligence or substandard work would not be acceptable. He stressed the need to strengthen quality control and supervision of the printing process.

He also warned that printing companies using old machines to print textbooks from next year would no longer be awarded contracts. He instructed the companies to prepare to use modern machinery with adequate capabilities to qualify for future contracts.

Representatives of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB), the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, and officials of the concerned printing companies were present during the visits.

-MT