Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally inaugurated free textbook distribution programme for the academic year 2017 on Saturday, as the ‘National Textbook Festival’ is set to be celebrated across Bangladesh on January 1.

The Prime Minister launched the programme by handing over textbooks of primary and secondary levels to students at a function at her official Ganabhaban residence at about 10:00am, reports NTV.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid will inaugurate the central programme of the ‘National Textbook Festival-2017’ at Azimpur Government Girls School and College in the capital at 9:30 am on January 1, reports BSS.

Secretary of the Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Division Md Sohrab Hossain, Secretary of Technical and Madrasa Education Division Md Alamgir and Chairman of National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) Prof Narayan Chandra Saha will also be present at the function.

More than 5,000 students of 31 schools of the capital will also join the function, the sources said.

NCTB Chairman Prof Narayan Chandra Saha earlier told BSS that the government will distribute 36,21,82,245 textbooks for free of cost among the primary and secondary level students in academic year 2017.

‘The free textbooks will be distributed among 4,26,35,929 pre-primary, primary, secondary, Ebtedayee, Dakhil, Dakhil vocational, SSC vocational, small anthropological group and visually challenged students across the country,’ he said.

All books have already been reached their destinations, the NCTB chairman said.

The NCTB chairman said for the first time arrangements have been made for supplying guidelines to teachers for resolving complications over the creative question paper system.

He said 60,01,024 guide books have been prepared for primary teachers while 46,66,664 books for secondary teachers.

Education ministry officials said 333,762,772 textbooks were distributed among 4,44,16,728 students of pre-primary, primary, Ebtedayee, secondary, Dakhil and technical students for the 2016 academic year.

‘Taka 5,658.86 crore has been spent for free textbooks distribution among students of pre-primary, primary, Ebtedayee, secondary, Dakhil and technical students in the eight years,’ the NCTB chairman said.

He said the government has been distributing free textbooks to encourage students of poor families to continue their studies, which eventually is checking dropout rate at both primary and secondary level educational institutions.