State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Ministry Md Zakir Hossain said that the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education has taken initiatives to include the issue of child marriage prevention in the school curriculum so that the benefits of preventing child marriage can be explained to the children in a sober way.
He made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at the ceremony of declaring Rajarhat child marriage-free zone at Rajarhat helipad ground in Kurigram, joining the programme virtually on Monday.
He said that the government has introduced national helplines 109 and 999 and this numbers have been printed on the back of all primary and secondary school books so that necessary actions can be taken immediately if child marriage takes place or any girl or women are abused anywhere.
“And the benefits of such service are being noticed at present. Bangladeshi girls are now protesting child marriages and also getting international recognition for this,” he mentioned.
The state minister further said that child marriage is a curse to the society.
“It is a major obstacle to women's development and self-reliance which is an obstacle to the progress of the country. Half of the country’s people arewomen. Actual development of any country is not possible leaving behind half of the population. Therefore, the government continues to work relentlessly to free society from the curse of child marriage,” he further said.
Kurigram Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Rezaul Karim presided over the programme.
Member of Parliament for Kurigram-2 constituency Panir Uddin Ahmed and Rajarhat Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Noor-e-Tasnim spoke at the programme.
