Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Thursday proposed an allocation of Taka 88,162 crore for education sector in the national budget for 2023-24 fiscal year (FY), which was Taka 81,449 crore in the revised budget of FY 2022-23.
Primary and mass education got Taka 34,722 crore, Taka 2931 crore more compared to FY 2022-23, while the secondary and higher education sector got Taka 42,838 crore, Taka 2877 up than the last FY, and Technical and Madrasa Education Division got Taka 10,602 crore, Taka 875 crore more than the FY 2022-23.
While placing the national budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 in the Jatiya Sangsad, the minister said, "Enhancing the quality of education at all levels is our special commitment. We are reaping the benefits of the government's policies as well as targeted spending in education and skill development over the past 14 years".
Pledging to continue the government's regular activities in the primary education sector, Kamal gave an outline of basic education in building 'Smart Bangladesh', saying that greater importance is being given to technology-based education to equip students for building a smart nation.
Noting that a total of 59,000 laptops, multimedia projectors and sound systems have been provided along with internet connectivity to more than 50,000 government primary schools across the country to set up multimedia classrooms, he said 800 officers have been trained on ICT and more than 1 lakh teachers have been imparted hands-on training to create digital content.
Speaking about the secondary and higher education, the minister said, "We are continuing our efforts to transform educational institutions into modern and model institutions. A total of 351 secondary schools
and 371 private colleges have been nationalized since 2009 to April 2023".
As many as 315 private secondary schools located in upazila headquarters except government schools have been converted into model schools, he said, adding that the construction work of 180 buildings has been completed for the government post-graduate colleges located at the district headquarters.
"Out of the 1,610 colleges selected under the private colleges' development project, the construction of ICT-friendly buildings has been completed in 1,473 colleges," Kamal said.
Under SESDP (Secondary Education Sector Development Plan), 33 model madrasas have been set up along with 62 new schools in underprivileged areas, he said, adding at present, 176 academic buildings are being constructed to expand science education along with 33 hostels under the Expansion of Science Education in Government Colleges Project.
Mentioning that a total of 33,285 multimedia classrooms and 11,307 computer labs have been set up in selected educational institutions since 2009 to enhance students' proficiency in information technology and to modernize teaching methods, the minister said in addition, 64,925 multimedia classrooms and 12,000 labs will be set up in future.
The digital content of 21 textbooks of primary level and the interactive digital text of 16 textbooks of class VI have been completed and uploaded on the website, he said, adding e-learning modules for six textbooks of class VII and class VIII and e-learning material of six textbooks for class IX and class X have been developed and uploaded.
A total of 710 ICT learning centres have been set up in selected educational institutions, he added.
About technical and madrasah education, the minister said, "Our government considers the 'strength of youth' as the source of the 'prosperity of Bangladesh'. Therefore, we are implementing various activities to promote technical and vocational education to maximize this strength".
"At the same time, we are modernizing madrasah education. Our efforts have enhanced the interest of the people of the country in technical education. It is evident in the enrollment rate in technical education in 2022, which is 17.2 percent compared to just 1 percent in 2010," he added.
The government needs to increase the enrollment rate in technical education to 30 percent by 2030 to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, Kamal said, adding, "We are working tirelessly to achieve this goal".
