Aiming to provide a quality education, the government will build and renovate schools with modern amenities in the capital and underdeveloped haor areas involving around Tk2,104 crore in a period of four years.
A Tk1,159.20 crore project has been approved for developing children friendly campuses in Dhaka metropolis and Purbachal.
The government will also build 52 hostels for both male and female students of 31 schools located in remote haor areas of Sunamganj and Netrakona districts at a cost of Tk 944.80 crore.
The approvals came on Tuesday from the 14th meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec), for the current fiscal (FY20), at the NEC Conference Room in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar with Ecnec Chairperson and Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, in the chair.
The proposed satellite city of Purbachal will have 11 new primary schools to cater to the growing demand for quality education in the city, while three will be set up in Uttara, said Planning Minister MA Mannan during a briefing after the meeting.
The main project operations include construction of 14 new primary schools, renovation of 2,975 classrooms at 154 schools out of 342 in Dhaka city, and expansion of 1167 classrooms at another 177 schools. The scheme includes beautification of the school gates and brick boundary walls for the safety of the students.
There will be maintenance and repair of some 1,167 schoolrooms in 177 primary schools, 25,536 boundary walls, alongside renovation of 356 boundary walls, formulation of necessary master plans, necessary land acquisition, and land filling.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chairs an Ecnec meeting at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in Dhaka on Tuesday, December 24, 2019 | PID
"As much as possible, primary schools in the capital will be made children friendly by keeping adequate open spaces or playgrounds. The appearance of each school will also be made beautiful," said Md Akram-Al-Hossain, secretary of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education.
At present, 342 schools accommodate 200,000 students, he said, adding: "Each of 14 new schools will have the capacity to accommodate 350 students. After completion of the project, the number of beneficiary children will go up to 205,000," Hossain continued.
The implementation of these projects will begin in January 2020 and is scheduled to end by December 2024, according to project documents.
The government primary schools will get a new look as the entrance of each of the schools will be beautified under the scheme to attract children.
Meanwhile, under a separate scheme approved by Ecnec, 31 high schools in Haor areas will be added residential infrastructure so that students and teachers can stay there.
Under the scheme, 40 five storied hostels for both male and female students will be constructed.
This scheme also includes construction of 12 more five storied hostels, 27 five storied multipurpose buildings for both male and female students, a five storied teachers' dormitory and brick boundary walls surrounding school campuses, according to project documents.
The project area covers schools in Sadar, Dowarabazar, Derai, Dharmapasha, Shalla, and Tahirpur upazila in Sunamganj district, and Mohonganj, Atpara, Modon and Khaliajuri upazila in Netrakona district.
Syed Md. Golam Faruk, director general of Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, told Dhaka Tribune that the Education Engineering Department of the Ministry of Education will implement these projects.
