Staff Correspondent

The National Curriculum and Textbook Board or NCTB has ordered the demand for new textbooks stating that ninth and tenth grade books will follow the old 2012 syllabus for the next academic year.

According to a circular issued by the NCTB, the demand must be submitted on their website from the district, Upazila or Thana secondary education offices by Sept 10. In addition, approval should be taken from the district and Upazila secondary education office on Sept 12. The demand for new textbooks will be approved by regional deputy directors.

Like in previous years, the demand for sixth to tenth grade secondary (Bangla and English versions) Dakhil, SSC and Dakhil Vocational and technical level books have been collected online through a web application.

However, according to the government's decision, the students of grades 9 and 10 will follow the branch and cluster-based textbooks based on the 2012 national curriculum instead of the revised and updated textbooks released in 2023.

The NCTB notification states: "You are requested to collect the demand for grades 9 and 10 textbooks from all educational institutions in your region, district, Upazila and Thana and send it through the new web application within the stipulated time frame. "

The education system at the secondary level has been changed radically ever since the fall of the Awami League government. Science, commerce and humanities streams will be reintroduced at the secondary level. The evaluation system will be pretty similar to the 2012 National Curriculum.

On Sept 1, a circular signed by Rahima Akhter, deputy secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division of the education ministry, said that the 2022 National Curriculum was "not implementable" "due to various issues.

The circular also stated the lack of preparation of teachers, ambiguity and negative perception about the content of the text and evaluation method, and lack of institutional capacity as the obstacles to the implementation of the curriculum.

It has been decided that the annual examination of grades 6 to 9 will be taken by revising and updating the current curriculum and changes to the textbooks will be made from next year.

In addition, the six subject-based assessment programs at the secondary level will be suspended.

Science, humanities and business studies streams will continue in the SSC and equivalent examinations of 2026. Corrections and updates to the textbooks will be made as soon as possible in 2025.