Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina formally inaugurated the free textbook distribution programme for school students on Monday.
She opened the programme through handing over textbooks among the students of different classes at a simple ceremony at Gono Bhaban in the capital.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr Afsarul Amin, State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Motahar Hossain and State Minister for Religious Affairs advocate Shajahan Miah were, among others, present on the occasion.
Addressing the function, the prime minister said the standard and quality of education in the country improved a lot after the government started to distribute free school textbooks among the students up to secondary level.
“The guardians are now free from the worry of buying textbooks and they feel encouraged to send their children to the school,” she said.
In 2013, some 3,68,86,172 secondary level students across the country will get the free textbooks on the first day of their academic year, she said. “Bangladesh can be an example in the world. We proved this by distributing free textbooks.”
She mentioned that each year the number of school students is increasing in the country and the government is also increasing the number of free books to distribute each year. “We are very happy to know that the number of school students is increasing,” she said.
The prime minister noted that the awareness among the guardians to send their children to schools has also increased substantially.
“A nation cannot develop without developing and enhancing the quality and standard of its education,” she said.
She expressed her satisfaction that the number of the female students increased significantly in the country and the students are doing very well in various public examinations.
Referring to the development programmes during the last tenure of her government, Hasina said that in 1996, her government took various programmes to eradicate illiteracy that led to the increase of literacy rate by 20 percent to 65.5 percent.
“But this time around, we found the literacy rate at 50 percent. The BNP-Jamaat government and the caretaker government did not take any effective initiative to lift the literacy rate,” she said.
From the ceremony, the prime minister extended her greetings to the countrymen for the new English calendar year.
Source:The Daily Star
