Education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, has said that the task of the government will be to ensure modern and developed education system.

He made the comment while handing over free books to students on Tuesday, the first day of 2019.

“By handing out free textbooks, Bangladesh has set a remarkable example in the world and in the coming days, the main task of the government will be to take Bangladesh forward.”

The minister inaugurated the free textbook distribution programme at the Azimpur Government Girls’ School and College on the morning of 1 January, 2019.

Addressing the guardians, he said, “You have a role to play to ensure that your children are growing up properly.”

In the last ten years, over 2.96 billion books were distributed among students, said the minister and added, “This time, over 352 million textbooks are being distributed among over 42.6 million students.”

“This is the first time supplementary 1.2 million books on agro studies are being given to classes six, seven, eight, nine and ten.”