Power outages hit printing presses, will students get textbooks on time?

Four hours of electricity a day and generators for the rest of the time. This is how the printing of free textbooks for the 2027 academic year is now being carried out.

Although more than 300 million books are targeted to be printed by November 30 so they can be delivered to students on the first day of the year, the work is being severely disrupted by power outages.

The task is a government priority. Large printing presses are being forced to run generators to keep operations going. This is costing an average of Tk 90,000 to Tk 100,000 a day in fuel. Repeatedly shutting down and restarting machines as electricity alternates with generator power is also damaging paper and causing printed forms to be discarded.

Against this backdrop, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) has written to power distribution companies requesting uninterrupted electricity or scheduled load shedding at specific times. However, after requests through letters and phone calls failed to improve the situation, the NCTB has now sought the intervention of the Power Division through the Ministry of Education.

All of this has raised concerns about whether new books can be handed to students on the first day of the year.

It is learned that printing of more than 300 million free textbooks for preprimary through ninth grade for the 2027 academic year began on August 16. The target is to complete printing by November 30 and send the books to the upazila level. The prime minister has personally inquired several times about the progress of this government priority program.

However, the printing work is being disrupted by load shedding. Presses outside Dhaka are particularly affected. They are receiving electricity for an average of only four hours a day. For the rest of the time workers at the printing presses have to remain idle.

The NCTB said 133 printing companies have received contracts to print books this year. Most of them are located outside Dhaka. Apart from Matuail in Jatrabari, presses are located in Manikganj, Narayanganj, Gazipur, Noakhali, Chattogram, Narsingdi, Lakshmipur and Cumilla.

As the presses are located outside the capital, they have to depend on the electricity supply in those areas. NCTB Secretary Shah Muhammad Firoz Al Ferdous therefore wrote to the distribution companies requesting uninterrupted electricity supply to the presses.

The letter also requested that if uninterrupted supply is not possible in any area, load shedding should at least be scheduled for specific times. This would allow the presses to operate their machines continuously outside those hours.

The letter said delivering free textbooks to students at the beginning of the new academic year is a priority government program. Following the prime minister's instructions, presses are working day and night to complete printing of all books by November 30. In this situation, maintaining uninterrupted electricity supply to the printing establishments is essential.

Owners of printing presses involved in textbook production said load shedding has not decreased despite the NCTB's request. According to them, they are being forced to depend on generators to print the books. This is increasing production costs. At the same time, large quantities of paper are being wasted because machines have to be repeatedly shut down and restarted.

The owners said a large printing press is spending an average of Tk 90,000 to Tk 100,000 a day on diesel or oil to run generators.

After running continuously for three to four hours, a generator becomes excessively hot and has to be shut down for one to one and a half hours to cool down. As a result, it is not possible to operate the machines continuously.

Each time a machine is stopped and restarted, an average of 10 to 12 kilograms of paper is wasted. The printing quality of many forms is also poor initially after the machine is restarted. Sometimes an entire form has to be discarded.

For this reason, many small and medium sized presses have temporarily stopped printing books.

Md. Mohsin, owner of Proma Press and Publications, told Agamir Somoy, “We are in serious trouble because of load shedding. We do not have electricity for more than four hours a day on average. We are spending an additional Tk 90,000 to Tk 100,000 every day just on fuel to keep the printing work going by running generators. After running the generator continuously for three to four hours, it becomes hot and we have to stop work to cool it down.”

“Large quantities of paper are being wasted because we have to repeatedly stop and restart the machines while switching between electricity and generator power. Many forms are also being discarded. On one hand, there is the additional fuel cost. On the other, paper and forms are being wasted. We are suffering losses from both sides,” Mohsin added.

NCTB Chairman Professor Mohammad Fakhrul Mawla said load shedding has now become a major problem for textbook printing.

He said, “The presses are unable to print the books properly. We have written to the electricity supply companies. Most recently, we also requested by phone that load shedding in press areas be reduced or that it be scheduled for a specific time, such as two hours in the afternoon. But the situation has not improved. We have now taken an initiative to resolve the matter through the ministry.”

NCTB officials said the electricity crisis will be brought to the attention of the Power Division through the Ministry of Education. If necessary, intervention at a higher level may also be sought.

They fear that unless the electricity problem is resolved quickly, completing textbook printing and delivering the books to students within the scheduled time may become difficult.

On the overall issue, Secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division Abdul Khaleque said, “We have heard about the load shedding issue. If the NCTB submits the matter as a proposal, we will discuss it with the Power Division. If any other measures are necessary, those will also be taken.”