The government on Tuesday moved to shorten the tender submission period for printing, binding, and supplying textbooks for the 2026 academic year of class 6-8 to ensure timely delivery to students on January 1.
The approval came from the 27th meeting of the Advisers Council Committee on Economic Affairs in this year where Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed chaired the meeting virtually.
According to the Education Ministry, the proposal was placed after the committee recommended re-tendering for the procurement process of textbooks for students of classes six, seven, and eight of secondary (Bangla and English versions), Dakhil, and technical education streams.
The committee earlier advised re-tendering after reviewing the proposals submitted in the initial phase.
However, officials noted that following the usual tender process — which requires 42 days for bid submission from the date of the newspaper advertisement — would make it impossible to distribute free textbooks to students on the first day of the new academic year.
To address the issue, the ministry proposed reducing the bid submission period from 42 days to 15 days under the emergency provision of Rule 83 (1)(Ka) of the Public Procurement Rules (PPR), 2008.
The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) distributes millions of free textbooks every year as part of the government’s initiative to promote education and reduce dropouts. Any delay in the procurement process could disrupt the timely handover of textbooks to students across the country.
On August 19 the same committee turned down the procurement proposals for printing free textbooks for Class 6, 7, and 8 students under 2026 academic session, which raised concerns over potential delays in the timely distribution of textbooks to the secondary-level students.
The proposals, placed by the Secondary and Higher Education Division and to be executed by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB), involved a combined budget of over Tk 603 crore for printing more than 12 crore copies of textbooks for the three classes, covering both Bangla and English versions, as well as Dakhil and technical streams.
According to the proposals, Class 6 textbooks were to be printed under 97 out of 100 responsive lots at a cost of Tk 180.04 crore, while Class 7 books were planned under 94 lots at Tk 200.20 crore. For Class 8, a contract for 89 lots amounting to Tk 223.12 crore was recommended. In each case, the remaining non-responsive lots were set to be re-tendered.
Procurement delay threatens timely distribution of class 6-8 textbooks in 2026
NCTB traditionally begins printing and binding months in advance to ensure that books are delivered to schools across the country before the start of the academic year.
The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB), under the Secondary and Higher Education Division, sought open tenders to print, bind, and deliver textbooks in 100 lots for each class.
For Class 6, bids for three lots were rejected out of 100 lots for 4.43 crore copies. For Class 7, among 4.15 crore planned copies, six lots were deemed non-responsive. Similarly, for Class 8, 11 lots failed technical and financial evaluations out of 100 lots for over 4.02 crore textbooks.