Students attending schools this morning will return home with a set of new textbooks.

Today starts the free distribution of textbooks to some 3.22 crore students of primary to secondary grades.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid will open the distribution at Mohammadpur Model

School and College in the capital around 10:00am amid festivity.

The government will observe January 1 as Textbook Festival Day every year.

Nahid will hand over books to students of Kamrunnesa Girls School at Tikatuli around 11:30am.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally inaugurated the distribution.

Nahid told The Daily Star almost all the copies have been delivered to schools in every upazila.

"The festival will continue for seven days as some students might be absent on the very first day. We hope every student will get textbooks by this week," he said.

The minister also said, "We have our buffer stock of primary and secondary books ready in case of any shortage."

The government has aimed at distributing around 23.20 crore books to students of primary, secondary, ebtedai (primary level of madrasa) and dakhil (secondary level of madrasa) and vocational classes of this academic year.

Of them, 10.45 crore copies are for primary students and 12.75 crore for secondary level.

National Curriculum and Textbook Board officials yesterday said around 99.07 percent of books for secondary students and 98.78

percent of primary books had already reached the schools.

Almost all the books of ebtedai, dakhil and vocational classes reached the institutions, said Prof Abul Kashem Miah, member (textbook) of NCTB.

"There is no concern over textbook anymore as almost hundred percent books reached the destinations," he told The Daily Star.

The government this year for the first time took initiative to print over 5 crore copies of textbooks for class I, II and III through international bidding. Of the books, Indian printers got the contract for around 2.98 crore copies.

Ratan Siddique, special officer assigned to monitor the distribution, said some of the city schools took extra books and some 144 schools have submitted their demand afresh.

"We have so far collected 14,000 copies from the schools which took extra books and already distributed those to different other institutions," he told The Daily Star.

NCTB sources, however, said some books of class I and II did not reach Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachhari districts.

The deadline for the delivery was yesterday morning, they said adding, the books might reach the areas by last evening.