30,000 to be hired in July

The government will be appointing 30,000 teachers for primary schools next month to reduce the teachers-students ratio, said State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Motahar Hossain yesterday.
"Currently, the ratio of teachers to students in primary schools is 1:50 which makes a teacher's job next to impossible. We want to bring a balance in the ratio," he said while speaking at a seminar titled "Achieving Universal Primary Education by 2015: Reality, Obstacles and Duties" jointly organised by Bangladesh Unnayan Parishad (BUP) and UN Millennium Campaign at the BUP office in the capital.
The minister said primary education up to class VIII, as per the National Education Policy, would be made mandatory from January 2011 by bringing together some primary schools.
"Since it is not possible to elevate standards overnight we will start small by introducing it in some schools and combining those," he said.
The primary level education is riddled with various problems, admitted Motahar, adding that, around Tk 3,000 crore will be required to ensure education for all by 2015, which they are yet to receive.
Around Tk 80 crore will be needed for stipends for around 80 lakh students this year, but only Tk50 to 60crore will be allocated to his ministry, he said.
"We need at least Tk 30,000 crore to bring dynamism in the primary education sector. But this year we will be getting Tk 8,000 crore," he added.
Despite all these problems, the government intends to reorganise primary education and has already taken many steps which brought in a rise in the rate of the enrolment and a decrease in the drop-out rate, said the minister.
Presenting a keynote paper, Dr Mohammed Farashuddin, chairman of BUP, expressed his satisfaction in the progress towards achieving Millennium Development Goals. He suggested appointing qualified teachers and ensuring proper training to achieve the goals.
Prof Nazrul Islam, chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC), suggested initiating a University of Education for teachers in order to provide them with training of high standard.
Prof Dr Kazi Saleh Ahmed, former vice chancellor of Jahangirnagar University and Rasheda K Chowdhury, executive director of Campaign for Popular Education (Campe), among others, also spoke on the occasion.