Confusion Over Death Date of Abu Sayeed in New Textbooks

Staff Correspondent

Errors in the new ninth and tenth-grade textbooks regarding the death date of Abu Sayeed, a student killed during the July-August anti-government protests, have sparked criticism and confusion.

Abu Sayeed, a 12th-batch student of Begum Rokeya University and a Shibir activist, played a key role as a coordinator in the protests. His death during the movement galvanized the protests, which eventually led to significant political changes. The aftermath of his death saw widespread violence and sabotage fueled by public outrage.

The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) published conflicting dates in the new curriculum. The English textbook “Graffiti” states that Abu Sayeed died on July 17, 2024, in Rangpur, while the Bangla literature textbook “Amader Notun Gaurabgatha” lists his death date as July 16.

Hafizullah Raju, president of the Bangladesh Teachers’ Forum, expressed concern over the errors. “Abu Sayeed’s death is one of the most notable events of the movement. Mistakes regarding this undermine the coordination among those responsible for revising the textbooks,” Raju said.

Abu Sayeed’s death led his brother, Ramzan Ali, to file a case on August 18 against 16 named individuals, including police officers, university administrators, and teachers, as well as 30-35 unidentified individuals, at the Rangpur Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court.

The errors are not limited to high school textbooks. The fifth-grade “Amar Bangla” book also contains a mistake. In an essay titled “Amra Tomader Vulbo Na,” the name of Nafisa Hossain, an HSC candidate from Tongi’s Shahajuddin Sarkar High School, has been incorrectly printed as “Nahiyan.”

When questioned, NCTB Chairman Professor A.K.M. Riazul Hasan admitted to the discrepancies. “The death date of Abu Sayeed in the ninth and tenth-grade English textbook is incorrect, but the date in the Bangla literature textbook is accurate. We are correcting the online copies and will issue a notification addressing all errors,” he said.

The mistakes have raised questions about the editorial process and quality control in the development of the national curriculum.