Dhaka: The National Textbook Festival, 2017 will be celebrated across Bangladesh on Sunday, marking the distribution of new textbooks among students free of cost.

Primary and Mass Education Ministry and National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) will arrange separate programmes in separate places, to mark the occasion.

Some 36, 21, 82,245 textbooks will be distributed among the primary and secondary students of the academic year 2017.

According to the Education Ministry, 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 9.30am on the New Year’s Day. The NTCB will arrange the function.

Besides, Finance Minister AMA Muhith will inaugurate another programme of the ‘National Textbook Festival-2017’, arranged by Primary and Mass Education Ministry, at Dhaka University Central Playground around 10am. 

Primary and Mass Education Minister Mustafizur Rahman will be present as special guest.

Some 11, 55, 26, 952, textbooks will be distributed among 2, 49, 83, 993 students of pre-primary and primary, according to the ministry.

The festival will also be celebrated at every educational institution of secondary level and local administrations and public representatives of division, district and upazila level will distribute the textbooks, sources at the Education Ministry said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over textbooks to students of primary and secondary level at Ganobhaban on Saturday.