SANGSAD BHABAN : Prime Minister Tarique Rahman today informed the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) that the government is implementing short, medium, and long-term plans by identifying 43 key areas in the education sector, aiming to increase budget allocation to 5 percent of GDP in the sector.
The premier said this while replying to a tabled question from treasury bench lawmaker from Sirajganj-1 constituency Md Salim Reza in the House with Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, Bir Bikram, in the chair.
Tarique Rahman, also ruling BNP chairman, said that the current democratic government considers education as the best investment for the nation and remains committed to building a quality, life-oriented, and inclusive education system.
He also said that the government’s election manifesto outlined a plan to gradually increase allocation for education to 5 percent of GDP.
“In line with that target, the government is implementing short, medium and long-term plans after identifying 43 areas in the education sector,” the Leader of the House said, adding that special importance has been given to improve the quality of primary education in the manifesto.
As part of the government initiatives, free school uniforms will be distributed among 200,000 primary school students across the country within the current fiscal, he said, adding, the government has a plan to expand this initiative in all upazilas across the country gradually.
To meet the nutritional needs of primary school students, the Prime Minister said there is a plan to provide school feeding/mid-day meals in all upazilas in phases.
Highlighting the government’s plans for the education sector, Tarique Rahman said that as per the election pledges, multimedia classrooms will be set up in all primary, secondary, and equivalent educational institutions to prepare the new generation for global competition.
To reduce digital disparity, he said, initiatives are underway to provide free Wi-Fi connectivity in 1,500 institutions (secondary schools, colleges, and universities) and a unique digital identity or ‘Edu-ID’ for every student and teacher.
Noting that the ruling party has made commitments in its election manifesto to make technical education mandatory for all alongside general education at the secondary level, the premier said his government has plans to gradually establish technical schools and colleges in every upazila and polytechnic institutes in every district.
Apart from making the technical and madrasah education modernized, Tarique Rahman said within the next 180 days, free Wi-Fi will be launched in 2,336 technical institutions and 8,232 madrasahs.
To make the madrasah education modernized and time-befitting, he said, smart classrooms will be established, training will be provided to enhance the skills of teachers, and technical courses will be included in madrasah education.
The Leader of the House said under the ICT Division’s Bangladesh Computer Council, initiatives have been taken to provide training to students within the next six months in areas such as artificial intelligence, cyber-security, mobile app development and design using Flutter, Python programming, and web-based digital marketing.
