None will be allowed to mar text book fest on Jan 1: Nahid

In an oblique reference to the back-to-back hartal being enforced across the country by a party, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid has said that the government will take all measures to ensure that text books reached all students despite obstructions by the ‘anti-liberation force’. ‘No one will be allowed to mar the joy of the students on the New Year’s Day,’ he declared and urged all to join the ‘Textbook Festival’ on January 1 next year. The government will distribute 326.35 million books among 4.4 million students at primary, junior secondary and secondary levels for the academic year 2015 amid on the New Year’s Day amid the shutdown called by the Jamaat-e-Islami. Nahid announced the plan after the Jamaat called shutdown for Wednesday and Thursday over the death penalty of its leader ATM Azharul Islam for war crimes. Resenting the shutdown call, Nahid said: ‘We’re angry at the call for strike because we have been celebrating the Textbook Festival on the New Year’s Day for the last 6 years,’ he said. The minister said the day would be celebrated across the country with fanfare. The education, and primary and mass education ministries will jointly centrally celebrate the festival at Motijheel Government Boys High School in Dhaka. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will open the celebrations by handing over new books to children at the Ganabhaban. The minister said that all books had already arrived at all Upazila headquarters, according to a news agency.