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Politics with text books

Secondary goes primary way

MUSTAK HoSSAIN
Political consideration seems to have prompted selection of as many as 20 books for students of secondary schools, which would cost the government Tk 9.5 lakh.
A selection committee headed by Prof. Wakil Ahmed of Dhaka University enlisted the books.
Of the books, 17 are on the life and works of late president Ziaur
Rahman and three on Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. The books are in two categories -- on liberation struggle and reference books.
The list includes books written by a minister, several parliament members of the ruling BNP, bureaucrats, committee members and their wives and friends, publishers alleged.
Similarly, 18 books on the Zias were also selected as rapid readers for primary students.
Besides, the education ministry has selected 200 books under the Development of Selected Secondary Schools Project (DSSSP) funded by the government. The books will be distributed among 317 government secondary schools and 2,000 non-government schools.
Many books of unfamiliar writers were put on the list of textbooks while those of renowned writers were ignored.
The education ministry would buy 63,000 copies of the books selected by it. To take advantage of this, a number of the books were prepared in haste. " If one's book is on the list, one can sell more than 2,000 copies of it in a single order. Naturally, it is very lucrative," a publisher said.
In the category of reference books, the 17 enlisted ones on Ziaur Rahman include Selected Speeches of Ziaur Rahman by SM Bipash Anwar, Zia Bangladesher Muldhara by Maruf Kamal Khan, who is press secretary to the prime minister; Ziaur Rahman O Jatiyatabad by MS Doha and Political and Ideological Philosophy of Zia by Prof. Emajuddin Ahmed.
The list also includes a book --Muktijuddha: Bangladesh Ziaur Rahman-- priced at Tk 4,000 and written and edited by a cartoonist, Iqbal Hossain Sanu. Many people say the book is nothing but a compilation of pictures and documents.
The selected books in the category of liberation struggle include President Zia Kemal Ataturk of Bangladesh by Prof. Nisar Uddin, Ekie Merur Dui Nakshatra--Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia by Ramkanta Singh, an unfamiliar author. A book titled Muktijuddhe Bilat Probashider Obodan by Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr. Khandoker Mosharraf Hossain is also on the list
Two books -- Chotoder Sainik Zia and Janotar Zia by Amirul Islam Kagoji, a journalist working in proBNP newspaper Dainik Dinkal were also selected. The list includes books titled Bangladesher Ganotantro O Begum Khaleda Zia by Kawser Iqbal, Zia Keno Janopriyo by AKA Firoz Noon, Zia the Great by Mahmood Shafiq, director general of the National Book Centre and a member of the selection committee.
Besides, there are books in different categories, authored by selection committee members.
The DSSSP had earlier floated tender for printing of the books. Tender schedules are now on sale and will be opened on May 17.
Prof. Wakil Ahmed claimed the committee tried its best to select quality books.
"We have to select books from a list submitted by publishers and authors So, we could not accommodate some quality books as those were not submitted for consideration," he said.
But sources said the committee selected books for primary and secondary school students out of over 8,000 books submitted by publishers and authors for selection.
Last year, a committee elected 52 books on Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia for public libraries and college libraries.
Meanwhile, the Awami League (AL) during its rule had also enlisted books for libraries on political considerations. The list included 34 books on Bangabadhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, seven on AL President Sheikh Hasina and 13 books written by pro-AL intellectuals.