For schoolchildren of Bangladesh, the first morning of 2018 came with the refreshing smell of new books.

Students of primary and secondary grades went to their schools braving the chilly winter morning and when they reached there, they were given a complete set of textbooks.

Some held those up in the air in joy, some held them tight to their chests, while some were seen flipping through the pages to see what was in them.

The exuberance of students turned every school ground into a carnival ground yesterday, the first day of the new academic session and the "Textbook Festival Day".

Yesterday, the government started distributing free textbooks like it did in the last eight years.

This year, the government is providing 35.42 crore copies of textbooks to more than 4.37 crore students of class-I to class-IX of different mediums, including madrasa and technical.

"I am very happy to get my set of new textbooks on the very first day at school. The first thing I will do after reaching home is see what's in there [the books]," said Rimon, a class-VI student of Government Laboratory High School and College.

In order to solve the textbook crisis that had persisted for many years, the government in 2009 decided to distribute textbooks to students for free. Since then, it has distributed more than 260.85 crore copies to primary and secondary students.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid inaugurated the festival at Azimpur Government Girls High School in the capital around 9:30am yesterday by releasing balloons along with the officials of his ministry and the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB).

"Bangladesh is the only country in the world that distributes such a huge number of textbooks to students on the very first day of a year," the minister said in his speech after inaugurating the festival.

Nahid termed the distribution of textbooks New Year's gifts to the students.

He mentioned changes to some textbooks and modification of 12 textbooks of class-IX with recommendations from educationists.

Last year, the government faced severe criticism for changes to some textbooks, mainly Bangla and Anandapath of different classes, with eminent personalities saying that the changes were made following demands of a radical Islamist group.

The minister said they have prepared 8,405 Braille books for 963 visually impaired students.

He urged the students to concentrate on their studies to get the best possible education and take the country forward.

Sohorab Hossain, secretary to secondary and higher education division of the ministry, urged the students and parents not to run after leaked question papers.

After the speeches of the minister and other officials, the books were handed over to the students who played the drums and waved placards and balloons. Parents and teachers too joined the ceremony.

The school premises was colourful with several thousand students of 25 secondary institutions attending the programme wearing red and green caps, holding festoons and balloons in one hand and textbooks in the other.

A cultural programme was also held to mark the occasion.

Meanwhile, Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman inaugurated the distribution of primary books at Dhaka University Playground.

He termed the book distribution programme one of the biggest achievements of the government.

Ratan Siddique, a member of NCTB (text), told The Daily Star that distributing such a large number of textbooks on time required massive work, which the government has been doing successfully for the last eight years.

It cost Tk 1,050 crore for printing the books, he said, adding that around 400 printers printed the books and more than 98,224 people were involved in the entire process this year.

The process began in March through tenders for printing and distributing the books. The bid winners printed and delivered the books to the schools.