Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged the world community to invest in quality education for a better world.
The PM made the call while addressing a high-level meeting of the ‘Global Education First Initiative’ (GEFI) at the United Nations Headquarters on Wednesday.
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, reports BSS.
"To check dropping out of students, we are providing free midday meals to primary and secondary students," she said.
"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 mentioned.
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 PM 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.
Apart from the UN Secretary General, Croatian President Ivo Josipovic, Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina Sanchez, Guyanese President Donald Ramotar, Republic of Korea President Park Geun-hye, Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, Andorran Prime Minister Antoni Marti Petit, Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, South African Minister of Social Development Bathabile Dlamini, Chinese Vice Minister of Education Hao Ping, Mozambique Deputy Minister of Education Arlindo Chilundo, Benin Minister at the Office of the President Professor Fulbert Amousouga Ger, UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasso, MDG 2 Advocate Sheikha Moza, Special Envoy for Global Education Gordon Brown, Education International President Susan Hopgood, Global Campaign for Education President Ms. Camilla Croso, Global Partnership for Education President Alice Albright, UNDP Associate Administrator and USG Gina Casar, UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova, UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, and Youth Advocacy Group Representative Sumaya Saluja, among others, spoke at the event.
