Textbooks for class-4 to 9: ‘Exaggerated’ historical info to be struck off

The government has decided to remove any “exaggerated” historical information or “unnecessary” glorification of any individuals from textbooks for the upcoming academic year, officials of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) have said.
Following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5, the NCTB decided to discontinue the new national curriculum and restore the old one in 2025.
Officials said textbooks for grades six to nine under the old curriculum, along with those of grades four and five, are undergoing revisions for the next education year, while the curriculum for classes one to three will remain unchanged.
To facilitate this transition, the government formed expert committees to revise 33 textbooks across various grades. Each committee, comprising three to five subject matter experts, will review and revise the textbooks as per instructions from the NCTB and the interim government.
According to these experts, the subjects expected to see the most changes include Bangla, Mathematics, ICT, Bangladesh and Global Studies, Civics and Citizenship, History of Bangladesh, and World Civilization.
Cover pages of all textbooks across grades will also be either changed or removed.
A group of teams has already started the revision process, and is expected to complete the task by the end of this month, said NCTB Member (Curriculum) Prof Robiul Kabir Chowdhury.
Speaking to The Daily Star, one member involved in the process said, “Many textbooks written during the previous government’s tenure contain narratives and speeches of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, along with other exaggerated information. We have been directed to remove such content.”
This means that there is little possibility that statements by the ousted prime minister will remain in the textbooks, the member added.
Another member, on the condition of anonymity, said content portraying Hasina in a heroic light, which is deemed unnecessary for textbooks, will be omitted.
“Both Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Ziaur Rahman will be given respect for their contributions to the nation, and there will no longer be any false or distorted history in the textbooks,” he said.
He added that a proposal has already been made to include the contributions of Ziaur Rahman, which had previously been omitted.
Rakhal Raha, a writer and activist involved in the revisions, said, “We have very little time to make major changes, but the government has instructed us to revise any glorified or exaggerated accounts of individuals.”
Regarding Mathematics textbooks, Raha said that the revision process has been challenging as experts need to ensure that students transitioning from the new curriculum to the old one do not face inconsistencies in their learning.
“The ICT team is also working on making the content simpler for students,” he added.
NCTB Chairman Prof AKM Reazul Hassan said that exaggerated depictions on all textbook covers will be removed. Instead, the covers may feature content related to national values or emergency services.
“Any content sensitive to social, political, or religious perspectives is being reviewed to ensure historical accuracy and avoid politically controversial material,” he said.
When asked if any content on the student-led mass uprising would be included, Prof Reazul said that due to the limited time available, such inclusion is not possible in the current revision. “But we will work on it next time,” he added.
On the possibility of a new curriculum in the future, Prof Reazul said, “For now, we are focusing on urgent tasks. Once these are addressed, we will consider new curriculum development.”
Asked about challenges in distributing books at the beginning of next year, Prof Reazul said that the tender process for printing the revised textbooks is underway, and students will get the books by the first week of January.
The Hasina-led government had introduced the National Curriculum-2022, which was rolled out in 2023 for classes one, six, and seven, and expanded this year to classes two, three, eight, and nine.
However, the interim government this month decided not to continue with this curriculum, describing it as “not implementable”, and opted to revert to the curriculum of 2012.