Bangladesh’s National Curriculum and Textbook Board, or NCTB, has revised some school textbooks after the July Revolution, but multiple prose and poetry works by authors described as controversial or criticized remain in Bangla books for the 2026 academic year, according to the report. A review of books from primary through secondary levels found repeated inclusion of works by Humayun Azad, Shamsur Rahman and Sufia Kamal, alongside poems by lesser-known writers.

The report says Humayun Azad’s prose appears across four consecutive grades, from class six through class nine. Shamsur Rahman has works in five grades between class one and class nine, while Sufia Kamal has poems and rhymes in seven grades. Several writings were removed in 2025, but the expected broader restructuring of author selections was not reflected in the 2026 books.

Dhaka University professor Tariq Manzur called for a defined framework for selecting authors and opposed labeling writers as banned or controversial. NCTB curriculum wing member Professor Muhammad Fatihul Qadir said curriculum revisions are under way and expressed hope that writings by controversial authors could be removed from textbooks for 2028.