National Curriculum and Textbook Board chairman says textbooks are being revised to incorporate the country's true history

National Curriculum and Textbook Board has undertaken an initiative to revise primary and secondary school textbooks from the 2027 academic year to address long-standing distortions and one-sided historical narratives and present what it described as the true history of the country.

“We have planned to revise textbooks and introduce a new, time-appropriate curriculum. The glorious history of the 2024 student-people mass uprising will be included in the textbooks,” NCTB chairman Md Mahbubul Hoque Patwary said in an interview with BSS.

He said expert committees are now working to impartially correct historical distortions that appeared in textbooks over the years.

“The contributions of the heroes of our Liberation War will be properly reflected in the textbooks. One-sided portrayals in history will be corrected and the real truth will be presented,” he said.

Patwary also said the revised textbooks would include accurate and detailed accounts of key political movements, from the 1990 mass uprising to the historic 2024 student-public uprising.

As part of the revision process, a four-day residential workshop for secondary-level textbook revisions was held at the Rural Development Academy in Bogura from May 4 to 7, while work on primary-level textbooks is also underway, he added.

According to the NCTB chairman, around 320 experts from Dhaka University’s Institute of Education and Research, other higher education institutions and experienced school teachers are involved in revising 97 secondary-level books and 36 primary-level books.

He said work on primary textbooks began after progress was made on the secondary-level revisions, adding that the entire process is expected to be completed by July before printing preparations begin.

Patwary said a total of 601 textbooks at different levels, including English-version books from primary to Grade 9, will be revised to ensure students receive updated and error-free books at the start of the 2027 academic year.

He also announced plans to introduce three new books for Grades 4 and 6 aimed at supporting students’ mental development and making learning more enjoyable.

One of them, a “Sports and Culture” book for Grade 4, is intended to encourage physical activity and reduce digital addiction among children through seven games and activities.

An experimental book titled “Learning with Happiness” is also being developed for Grade 6 students to make learning more engaging, with plans to gradually expand it to other classes.

In addition, an inspirational book on Technical and Vocational Education for Grade 6 students under the Technical Education Board will be introduced next year.

Highlighting changes to ICT education, Patwary said the existing books had become outdated and that textbooks from Grades 6 to 10 were being almost completely redesigned to incorporate artificial intelligence and modern technology.

He said the government is working on a student-friendly curriculum in line with its election pledge, with a focus on experience-based learning. Under the new approach, the number of books will be reduced while practical learning opportunities will increase.

Speaking about future plans, Patwary said major curriculum reforms are being considered for the 2028 academic year, which could include a completely new curriculum.

Addressing parents, he said the country was still following a curriculum introduced in 2012, which no longer meets present-day demands.

“This change is essential to meet current needs. We believe that when students learn with joy, parents will also appreciate it,” he said.

The NCTB chairman expressed hope that students would receive modern, accurate and distortion-free textbooks on the first day of January 2027.