Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has criticised the government move to strip the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) of its authority to print, publish, and distribute pre-primary and primary-level textbooks.

“The move to transfer textbook management authority from the NCTB to the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) is like cutting off the head to cure a headache,” reads a TIB statement issued on Sunday.

The anti-corruption watchdog called on the government to reinstate the authority under the NCTB by ensuring good governance with autonomy, transparency, and accountability.

“Transferring the textbook management authority to the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE), instead of addressing the long-standing challenges of good governance within the NCTB, is like cutting off the head to cure a headache and will not solve the existing problems,” the TIB statement added.

TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said that the interim government’s decision to amend existing laws to enable the handover would only weaken the NCTB and fail to bring any qualitative change towards achieving the desired goals.

“The government must seek effective measures to address and prevent governance failures and widespread irregularities and corruption, while ensuring exemplary accountability of all those directly or indirectly involved,” he said.

He also pointed out the liability of the relevant ministry and departments for delays in timely book distribution, quality concerns, and coordination failures.

“Although it may seem natural at first glance to blame the NCTB alone for these failures, the board’s inefficiency, irregularities, and professional decline are the result of internal conflicts among institutions, abuse of power, and direct and indirect barriers to autonomy,” he said.

He further stated that instead of resolving the root problems, there is no logical justification for dissolving the NCTB’s long-standing expertise in textbook-related work under bureaucratic influence and assigning the crucial task to the DPE, which would have to start almost from scratch.

Dr Iftekharuzzaman also called for steps to investigate the causes of past failures and irregularities within the NCTB and to ensure accountability of those responsible.