Thousands of crores lost in controversial education curriculum

There have been allegations of loss of thousands of crores of rupees in the formulation of controversial curriculum at the school level during the reign of the fallen autocracy Awami League government. Not just in textbook printing; Allegations of financial wastage and loss of money by the government have been found at every level, starting from book manuscript preparation, tender process, book editing, book preservation, quality control, reaching the books at the district-upazila level and distributing them to the students.

Especially in the committees which were formed before the preparation of the curriculum, money was also traded. The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) has already constituted a five-member inquiry committee to investigate or inquire into these matters. They will investigate irregularities in various sectors of textbook printing and curriculum development.

NCTB Chairman Professor Dr. AKM Riazul Hasan told Naya Digant yesterday evening that a committee has been formed to investigate the amount of money irregularity under the cover of the controversial curriculum during the tenure of the previous government. On the question whether this committee was formed on the basis of any specific complaint, he said, it seems to us that since everyone had objections to the controversial curriculum, the present interim government and the Ministry of Education may also ask us (NCTB) about financial matters at any time. For that we have formed a committee of five members from among ourselves.

Here one is the head of the committee and four more members have been appointed. They will fix themselves and generate the report as per the convenience of the work. In this regard, a source of NCTB said that Professor Mashiuzzaman, Member (Education) of that time played a key role in creating the controversial curriculum during the previous government.

He has played an active role in misappropriating large sums of money from the government by appointing people of his choice to prepare the curriculum. On the other hand, the then chairman of NCTB, Professor Farhadul Islas, could not protest against the financial irregularities of many people under the government despite being in charge. Allegedly, he himself was eventually forced to surrender due to his complicity in wrongdoing and financial scams.

According to sources, a notification of the Ministry of Education on September 1 said that the new curriculum (controversial) is not implementable. From the year 2026, it will be taught in the light of the revised curriculum. The notification also said that the revised curriculum will be finalized in 2025 with the cooperation of educationists, experts in related subjects including curriculum and assessment, education administrators and representatives of civil society and parents. It will be fully implemented from 2026 onwards. Teaching and evaluation of students in the light of curriculum 2012 was also announced in the notification.

BD/ZR