How Bangladesh plans to modify the school textbooks

The National Curriculum and Textbook Board is working to withdraw or modify history and social science books for classes six and seven that recently came under fire over errors and a heavy dose of ancient gods and goddesses.

The NCTB will recall two books under the same title “Anusandhani Path”, a history and social science study prepared for classes six and seven in the 2023 academic year.

In addition, specific chapters of the history and social science practice books for the same classes, collectively known as “Anushilon Path”, will be revised, according to a notice issued by the NCTB on Friday.

Educational institutions will be informed about the necessary corrections soon.

Aside from these chapters, the NCTB has approved the teaching of the rest of the books, according to bdnews24.com.

Asked about how the withdrawal and revision process will proceed, Prof Md Mashiuzzaman of the NCTB said: “Under the new curriculum, classes six and seven’s history and social science books are broken into two sections -- the Anushilon Path and the Anushandhani Path. We have recalled the Anushandhani Path for both classes. The Anushilon Path will proceed, but with some corrections to certain topics.”

The Anushilon Path is the book that students will primarily read as their core text, while the Anushandhani Path was originally designed to help students match their thinking with their lessons.

“Not all students have access to the internet to search on their own. These books were published so everyone could look up more facts alongside their reading,” Prof Mashiuzzaman said.

The Anushilon Path highlights the histories of many world civilisations. To explore these histories, the Anushandhani Path includes discussions of Egyptian, Sumerian, and Mesopotamian civilisations, with topics of ancient gods and goddesses, and images of their cultures.

“We noticed there was quite a lot of talk about these elements, and objections were brought up, so we withdrew the two books from the two classes,” Prof Mashiuzzaman said.

The students will be able to follow along with their lessons using the Anushilon Path even if they cannot read the Anushandhani Path, he said.

Regarding the revisions to the Anushilon Path book, Prof Mashiuzzaman said: “There were some discussions on Ikhtiyar Uddin Muhammad Bakhtiyar Khilji, founder of the Khilji dynasty of Bengal. There was also some criticism about how there was a lot about ancient history and ancient gods and goddesses but less about our history.”

“We will meet with the people who made the books, and the experts, make the necessary corrections and deliver the books to students. They will read other chapters until the relevant ones are revised.”

Asked what kind of pressure had prompted the board to make the changes, he said that the decision to withdraw them was made due to the criticism and objections from broader society, not institutional pressure.

Asked how long the corrections and revisions would take, he said, “Let’s see. The experts will look into it. I hope it will be quick.”

The NCTB announced the decision to withdraw the school textbooks from circulation on Friday. It had not initially cited a reason for the recalls.