State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Zakir Hossain said that currently 5 thousand 626 buildings of government primary schools in the country are dilapidated. He gave this information in response to the question of Awami League Member of Parliament Mamunur Rashid in the National Parliament on Sunday.
Speaker before this. Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury presided over the question and answer table at the beginning of the meeting of the Parliament.
The state minister said that the government has taken steps to improve the infrastructure of these dilapidated government primary school buildings. Schools with dilapidated buildings are being rehabilitated by providing allocations under major renovations based on local demand for repairable buildings. Apart from this, if the dilapidated buildings of the schools are not repairable, if those buildings are declared useless by the 'useless declaration committee', additional classrooms or new buildings will be constructed in phases based on local demand and subject to budget allocation.
State Minister Zakir Hossain said in response to the question of Morshed Alam, Member of Parliament of the government party, that due to the corona epidemic, the program of giving scholarships to the students of the fifth class has been stopped as the final examination has been stopped for the time being. However, the stipend program is ongoing among the beneficiary students. In response to the question of Nizam Uddin Hazari, another member of parliament of the ruling party, the State Minister for Primary and Mass Education said that the current school feeding program will end on June 30. A feasibility study has been undertaken to take up new projects in this regard. After completion of the feasibility study, new schemes for school feeding of government primary school students across Bangladesh will be taken up in light of the recommendations.
Apart from this, in response to the question of Manjur Hossain, a member of parliament of the government party, Education Minister Dr. Dipu Moni said that the total number of madrasas under MPO in the country is 7 thousand 955. There are about 39 lakh 15 thousand 133 students in madrasahs.
In response to the question of Mamunur Rashid of the government party, the Education Minister said that MPO affiliation of educational institutions is an ongoing process. Institutions which are not affiliated to MPO will be considered for inclusion in MPO.
In response to the question of M Abdul Latif, a member of parliament of the government party, Education Minister Dipu Moni said that the government has taken steps to establish 10 government secondary schools in the surrounding areas of the capital to reduce the pressure on schools in Dhaka. These schools will be in Keraniganj, Purbachal, Jalkuri, Nabinagar, Dhamrai, Hemayetpur, Zoar Sahara, Satikkul, Ashulia and Chittagong Road.
In response to a question from Jatiya Party Member of Parliament Shamim Haider Patwari, Education Minister Dipu Moni said, regarding the 'Education Act, 2021', the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, Directorate of Madrasa Education, Private Teacher Registration and Certification Authority (NTRCA), Technical Education Opinions have been received from the Directorate and Bangladesh University Grants Commission. On June 23, after reviewing the opinions, the draft of the Education Act will be finalized and sent to the cabinet department for policy approval.
In response to a question from Jatiya Party Member of Parliament Mujibul Haque whether there is a plan to reduce semester fees in private universities to make education accessible, the Education Minister said that the University Grants Commission has already collected and reviewed the fee structures of all private universities.
In response to the question of M Abdul Latif, a member of parliament of the government party, Social Welfare Minister Nuruzzaman Ahmed said that in the fiscal year 2021-2022, Tk 6 crore was allocated for the program entitled 'Rehabilitation and alternative employment of people engaged in begging'. Later, a total of 26 crore 80 lakh taka is available with an allocation of 20 crore 80 lakh in the revised budget. The money received has been sent to the respective districts for the construction of 16 tin shed buildings for the temporary shelter of beggars in 63 districts of the country, including the rehabilitation of beggars in five government shelters in four districts and the purchase of other necessary materials. The work of rehabilitation of beggars is going on.
