Of the amount, which makes up 25 percent of the entire budget for fiscal 2007-08, 15.2 percent is meant for education and 6.9 percent for health sectors.

An allocation of Tk 10 crore has been proposed to be earmarked for education research grants.

"Education and health are the main vehicles for human resource development. It is not possible to ensure accelerated and sustained development without competent human resources," Finance Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam said proposing the allocations.

He said in the present-day world, development of a country depends on how well-groomed its workforce is.

"To this end, the government has taken up a new initiative for research and investment in higher education. It will provide financial assistance to the faculties of physical science, life science and mathematical science of any public or private university in the country if they can publish at least three research papers in recognised and well reputed journals and organise an international seminar a year," he added.

The proposed assistance will be granted following a purely competitive process based on specific research proposals, he noted.

The adviser said the present government has prepared a National Work Plan for universal primary education. In the next fiscal, about 15,000 primary teachers will be recruited of which 60 percent will be female. This will bring the current student-teacher ratio of 55:1 down to 46:1.

Some 55 lakh primary students will be given monthly stipend at the rate of Tk 100. Actions are underway to bring back dropouts in 11,000 teaching centres.

In FY 2007-08, around 10,000 teachers will be trained while as many as 18,186 new classrooms will be built. Some 6.5 lakh people from among those who have attained literacy through mass education programme would be given income-generating training.

Alongside the secondary female stipend programme, the government is introducing a stipend programme for the poor male students as well.

Mirza Aziz said 63 percent of the education ministry's non-government budget allocation is spent on salary subventions of the teachers and staff of non-government educational institutions.

In the revised budget of the current fiscal, the allocation for this purpose amounts to Tk 3,013 crore. In order to make this huge spending cost-effective, the allocation against each institution will be linked with performance, he said.

"An Independent Inspection Body will undertake performance evaluation. Steps are being taken to provide special training for the teachers. Emphasis has been laid on English language and vocational education. Information and statistics on education are being enriched," the finance adviser noted.

Turning to the health sector, he said efforts aimed at human resource development cannot succeed without concurrent development in the sector.

The government is taking steps to put in place a competent hospital management system for improving the quality of health services.

However, one of the strategies in this case would be to ensure growing private sector involvement in health care.

The work in the areas where private sector is more efficient will be outsourced on a management contract basis.

In the public sector, more nursing institutions will be set up to increase the number of nurses. Besides, measures have been taken to mobilise the support of hospitals, universities and other institutions operating in the private sector.

He said the government has already decided to ensure increased involvement of the NGOs in activities like population control and prevention of malnutrition and contagious diseases.

Implementation of a programme on health infrastructure development is underway across the country.

The finance adviser said institution-based project implementation has been strengthened to extend the facility of specialised health services. Monitoring has been intensified at the same time.