One of the most remarkable events in global publishing
One of the most remarkable events in global publishing happens each year in Bangladesh on New Years Day, when the Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, inaugurates the distribution of millions of free textbooks to schoolchildren across the country.
It’s an initiative that started in 2008 to ensure universal access to quality education, and continues each year. Since 2017, the issue includes braille books among visually impaired students, and the distribution of Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Garo and Sadri language books among students from the ethnic groups to study in their mother languages.
Critics point to the uniformity of the books, and printing errors, with a focus on quantity over quality to meet the annual targets, but still this is a remarkable story.
What’s not clear is what happens to all the older textbooks. If anyone is familiar, do let me know.
Check out New Age BD for more detail, including some stunning numbers.
