Quality education a must

Quality education needs to be ensured to produce skilled manpower and thereby help the country progress, said participants in a forum yesterday.

They also underscored the need for providing adequate budget for education to ensure quality education. 

Economic Relations Division (ERD) organised the two-day forum called Bangladesh Development Forum 2018 at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon hotel in the capital aiming to discuss the implementation progress of the Seventh Five Year Plan and its challenges with national and international organisations.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said, “Skilled manpower is a must. If a country needs to progress, there is no alternative to skilled manpower.” 

The minister also said, “I must admit that we have many mistakes, many failures, many limitations and financial constraints.”

However, he claimed that the incumbent government is trying to improve the quality of education, and ensuring education for girls in the secondary level is one of their achievements.

Eisuke Tajinma, a representative of Asian Development Bank (ADB), said Bangladesh is moving forward as it has a large number of youths. But, they need to be skilled in different sectors so that they can work for different industries and keep the progress going, he added.

Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh, said human development is possible if quality education is ensured.

The existing curriculum requires more upgrade, the education system should be more interactive while the ratio between teachers and students needs to be proper, she added.

Tahsinah Ahmed, chief executive officer of Underprivileged Children's Educational Programs (UCEP), said the present education system only focuses on scores, but the students need to grow critical thinking and gain proper skills in related fields.

Appreciating the government's various efforts in education sector, Mario Ronconi, head of Cooperation Unit of European Union to Bangladesh, said the government should continue such initiatives.

Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman and Secondary and Higher Education Division Secretary Md Sohorab Hossain also spoke.