Primary and mass education secretary Farid Ahmed on Thursday said that the government will conduct various competitions, including olympiads, to encourage students to prioritise co-curricular activities alongside academics for financial grants.
The secretary made the comments at a press conference organised by Ministry of Primary and Mass Education at the secretariat, marking International Literacy Day (September 8).
Earlier in August, the government announced scrapping scholarship exams for fifth graders and hinted on introducing an alternative assessment method for evaluating high-achieving students.
Farid said the government is considering options such as mathematics olympiads and cultural activities to assess Class V students.
"No private primary school will be permitted to operate without proper registration and academic accreditation. All existing private primary schools must undergo the registration process," stressed the secretary.
For private schools, academic accreditation will be valid for three years, and registration for one year, with the possibility of renewal if conditions are met, he said, adding that the government will issue specific guidelines in this regard soon.
"Currently, only 10 percent of schools are registered, while the remaining 90 percent operate without proper registration. These educational institutions will be granted a three-month period to complete their registration," said Farid.
Emphaising the need for 100 percent literacy, Zakir Hossain, state minister for primary and mass education, said, the literacy rate was 76.8 percent, among the population aged seven and above as per Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics 2022.
"Achieving development goals require raising the literacy rate of the remaining 23.2 percent of the population," he added.
At the event, the state minister was also asked about the establishment of a second Primary Teacher Training Institute (PTI), in his hometown Roumari upazila of Kurigram, despite a PTI also been present in the district.
A significant number of discussions had previously surfaced in this regard as some of the state minister's relatives were said to be allegedly benefitting from the land acquisition process in this project, according to various media reports.
Denying the allegations of personal benefits, Zakir said his initiative aims to benefit only the teachers in the char areas by ensuring training facilities near their homesteads instead of having to travel to Kurigram or Mymensingh for the facilities.
"My family does not own any land in the area, but some of my distant relatives do. Their land was acquired for this project. The original price of the acquired land is three times the government's acquisition rate," he added.
Currently, there are 67 PTIs located throughout the country, serving the training needs of primary teachers under the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education.
