Invest In Quality Education, Not War Machines: Prime Minister

"We must divert billions we spend for creating war machines and violence to educating our progeny for the 'world we want'. Let us all invest in quality education for a culture of peace and non-violence," she said.

The Prime Minister expressed these views when participating in a discussion of a high-level event on the UN Secretary General's Global Education First Initiative (GEFI) at Trusteeship Council at the UN headquarters here on Wednesday afternoon.

She said the Global Education First Initiative (GEFI) must build global partnerships and consensus for resources to promote quality education.

As Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki drew attention to the GEFI leaders that millions of children cannot go to schools in Gaza city in Palestine due to Israeli atrocities, the Prime Minister said the situation at Gaza has not been acceptable.

"All should raise voice against what is happening in Gaza," she said.

Sheikh Hasina said the MDGs helped Bangladesh champion access to education and, gender parity. "In the post-2015 era, our priority must be quality education," she said.

The Prime Minister said Bangladesh will have more than 120 million young and active workforce by 2031. "My government is determined to unlock their talents and transform them into skilled human capital," she said, adding that Bangladesh's National Education Policy 2010 laid foundations towards that end.

Mentioning that quality education needs quality teachers, she said her government has trained nearly a million secondary teachers in quality teaching and evaluation methods.

Sheikh Hasina said teachers' evaluation is performance-based. "So we have reserved 60% teaching positions in primary schools for qualified women," she said.

In a low-income-country, she said, quality education must ensure access to free textbooks and contemporary curricula.

"Only in 2014, we distributed 318 million free textbooks to primary and secondary students," she said.

The Prime Minister said a new national curriculum and a creative assessment system have been developed, while madrasa education has been reformed with mainstreaming of science and ICT education.

She said quality education must include ICT knowledge based aspects, and in Bangladesh, ICT knowledge is compulsory for secondary and higher secondary students.

"The government is implementing a rigorous ICT master plan for education to materialise its vision for building a technology-driven society through Digital Bangladesh," she said.

Noting that a well-nourished early learning is key to quality education, she said Bangladesh has introduced free pre-primary classes in all primary schools.

"To check dropping out of students, we are providing free midday meals to primary and secondary students," she said.

For quality education, she said, talented students must continue learning. "Just in 2013, we gave stipends to nearly 12.8 million meritorious secondary-to-bachelor's students to ensure continued learning. Girls received 75 percent of these stipends," she said.

Sheikh Hasina said the aim of her government is also to create skilled youths for job markets at home and abroad. "Over the last five years, we have increased number of graduates in Technical and Vocational Education Training by seven-fold," she said.

The Prime Minister said quality education must ensure inclusion of the excluded. "Bangladesh is developing a law towards a uniform education system covering nearly 70 million young learners, from mainstream, madrasas and minorities," she said.

She said girls' and women's education must remain a pillar of quality education. "We need resources for quality education, and this fiscal, Bangladesh allocated 11.66 percent of its budget for education," she said.

Health Minister Mohammad Nasim, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Engineer Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain and international autism expert and PM's daughter Saima Hossain Putul were present, among others.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the Global Education First Initiative (GEFI) in September 2012 to spur renewed efforts to reach global education goals.

By rallying a broad spectrum of world leaders and advocates, GEFI aims to raise the political profile of education, inspire new partnerships and mobilize additional funding to deliver on the promise of Education for All. The initiative focuses on three priority areas. These are to put every child in school, improve the quality of learning and foster global citizenship.

-Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS)