Live Correspondent: The Education Sector got the highest allocation of Tk 87,62o crore in last 10 years in the proposed national budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal today proposed an allocation of Taka 87,620 crore for education and training in the national budget.

“It is worth mentioning here that currently 28 ministries and divisions are implementing programs related to education and training. The allocation for this purpose in FY 2019-20 is Tk. 87,620 crore, which is 3.04 percent of GDP and 16.75 percent of total budget allocations,” he said while placing the national budget for 2019-20 fiscal in the Jatiya Sangsad this afternoon.

He said with the aim of creating skilled human resource, targets have been set for the overall improvement of education, reducing discrimination in education, achieving quality, excellence, and expansion of education.

Kamal said the MPO (Monthly Pay Order) enlistment in the Ministry of Education has remained suspended for a long time.

Upon request from the Ministry of Education and under the special directive of the Prime Minister, necessary funds have been earmarked in the budget for this year for enlistment of new schools in the MPO list, he said.

The finance minister proposed to allocate a total of Tk. 24,040 crore for the primary education sector, which was Tk. 20,521 crore in the budget for current FY2018-19.

The minister also proposed to allocate a total of Tk. 29,624 crore for the secondary and higher education sector, which was Tk. 25,866 crore in the current fiscal year.

He said steps have been taken to construct 48,947 multimedia classrooms, 200 language-cum-ICT labs, 1,000 science labs, 2,120 smart classrooms and 46 hostels, and supply of furniture, office materials and ICT equipment in 26,200 educational institutions throughout the country.

ICT training and resource centres have been established in 125 upazilas in the country, and the process for establishing the same in another 160 upazilas is underway, he said.

Kamal proposed to allocate Tk. 7,454 crore in FY 2019-20 for technical and madrasa education, which was Tk. 5,758 crore in FY2018-19.

With a view to establishing one technical school at each upazila to create skilled manpower in Bangladesh, construction of technical schools in 100 upazilas at a cost of Tk. 2, 281.69 crore in the preliminary phase is underway, he said.

The minister said necessary budget has been allocated to develop land survey education in Bangladesh, construct polytechnic institutes in 23 districts, and implement projects to enhance the capacity of 64 technical schools and colleges under the Directorate of Technical Education.

Kamal said the government has taken numerous steps for the development and modernization of madrasa education.

Infrastructures of Madrasas will be developed and multimedia will be set up in classrooms while a total of 1,800 new madrasas are being established in the country, he added.

He said the government has allocated Tk. 9,000 crore in FY 2019-20 for development projects in the secondary and higher education sector, which is 54 percent higher than that in FY 2018-19.