Dhaka, Nov 14, (V7N) – Education Minister Dr A N M Ehsanul Hoque Milon said Saturday that the government is keen to increase investment in the education sector, particularly in science, innovation, research and development.
He also said research institutions and related organisations will have to come forward in this regard.
The minister made these remarks while addressing a conference titled "Chemical Innovation for Future Challenge" as the chief guest, organised by the Bangladesh Chemical Society at the Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Building of Dhaka University (DU).
Mentioning that around Tk 5,000 crore has been allocated for the HEAT project under the University Grants Commission (UGC), he said various research and development projects are underway in the country and the government wants to invest more in science and technology, innovation and research.
Highlighting the potential of Bangladesh's human resources, Milon said the country's students and researchers have the capacity to compete at the international level. Recently, 23 scientists from the University of Dhaka have been included in the list of the world's top 2 percent scientists, which is a matter of pride for the country, he said.
However, human resources must not be kept merely as an invisible asset, and they have to be turned into productive and visible assets. For this reason, the government is also laying emphasis on increasing investment in technical education, added the minister.
Referring to the use of garments made from plant fibre and the need for research on the diversified use of jute, he said jute fibre is extremely important. Yet Bangladesh has not made the expected progress in the diversified use of this resource and in increasing the variety of jute products, he said, highlighting that research must be increased to develop new products from jute fibre. He noted that there is also scope to increase the use of eco-friendly and biodegradable jute bags.
The minister said an initiative has been taken to provide uniforms to primary school students across the country from the beginning of 2027. The government also has a plan to provide jute bags to students for carrying books and exercise books.
Raising the issue of the recent SSC examination results, Milon said the pass rate this year is 52 percent and the results did not meet expectations. In this situation, he said, grades of around 45,000 students have changed so far through re-scrutiny of answer scripts. Of them, around 5,000 students who had failed earlier have passed after re-scrutiny and the GPA of around 3,790 students has increased, he said, adding that the causes of these irregularities and errors will be investigated. In addition, re-examinations for those who failed in one or two subjects will be held soon, he added.
Addressing the students, he said there are 57 public and 116 private universities in the country. Against a total of around 15 lakh seats, the number of students who have passed is around 550,000. So there is no reason to be overly worried about admission to universities, he said.
DU Vice-Chancellor Professor A B M Obaidul Islam spoke at the programme as the chief patron. Presided over by Bangladesh Chemical Society President Dr Md Emran Kaiyum, General Secretary of the society Dr A K M Lutfor Rahman, DU Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Almoazzeddi Alfesani and Vice-Chancellor of Rangamati Science and Technology University Professor Joynal Abedin Siddique also spoke at the programme.
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