Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday stressed the need for grooming children with the knowledge of science and technology to make them worthy citizens as they could conquer the moon in the future.
鈥榃e have to go to the moon one day. We have to conquer the moon. So, we have to provide our children with science-based education from their childhood,鈥� she said.
The prime minister made the remarks while inaugurating the National Primary Education Week-2024 as a chief guest at a function with a renewed pledge to ensure quality education for children.
The primary and mass education ministry organised the programme at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in Dhaka in the morning.
To pursue the knowledge of science and technology, the prime minister said that her government had already built an aerospace and aviation university (Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Aviation and Aerospace University) and an aeronautical research centre to encourage the children to avail of such education.
She also distributed the Primary Education Medal-2023 among the stakeholders on the occasion.
The prime minister asked all concerned to make collective efforts to make the children skilled in all sectors, including education, sports and culture.
鈥榃e are doing everything to make our children worthy citizens in all aspects that include education, sports and culture,鈥� she said.
She added the children should be prepared from their childhoods by giving them the required knowledge and training.
The prime minister said the time is the era of technology.
鈥楽o, we have to prepare our people with the knowledge of technology and for that reason, we have taken all kinds of measures to fulfill the target,鈥� she said.
Sheikh Hasina said that Bangladesh鈥檚 founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman wanted to build Sonar Bangla, calling children as its soldiers.
The prime minister said that her government built digital Bangladesh which helped provide proper education among the children online and on television.
鈥楧igital system is now available everywhere in Bangladesh. We have launched Bangabandhu Satellite-1 and spread broadband and wifi connection across the country,鈥� she added.
The technology has offered the children to know the world, she said, adding the children will now learn by not only studying books but also opening their eyes.
鈥業t will be better for the children to learn as much as possible from their childhood as the children are good learners than the aged people,鈥� she said.
The prime minister said that she wanted to transform Bangladesh into a Smart country by building smart citizens, economy and society.
鈥榃e need to prepare the children with the knowledge of technology from their childhood,鈥� she said.
She also said that her government was modernising the curriculum prioritising science and technology to flourish the latent talents of the students.
鈥楯ust reading books is not enough. We鈥檒l have to extract the talents of the small children. It needs to create scopes for them so that their hidden intelligence can flourish. Keeping it in mind, we鈥檝e added modern technology knowledge into the curriculum,鈥� she said.
The prime minister said that her government was working to develop a balanced, public welfare-oriented, universal and standard education system.
A computer lab will be set up in every school in the country, she said.
鈥業nitially, we started setting up computer labs in the secondary schools and now we鈥檝e a goal to do it in the primary schools as well,鈥� she added.
The prime minister said that the children would grow up in such a way that they could take the country ahead with newer innovations.
鈥楾oday鈥檚 children will be the leaders of the country one day. Some of the children will be prime minister, minister, high government official and scientist,鈥� she said.
She continued the children would build smart Bangladesh by 2041 and run the state towards prosperity by implementing the Delta Plan 2100 to ensure a better life for generation after generation.
Sheikh Hasina said that they wanted to make the pre-primary education for two years instead of one for flourishing the hidden talents of small children through sports and games, not for study.
The prime minister said that the government distributed a total of 4,64,74,29,880 copies of free textbooks from 2010 to 2024.
The government wants to introduce a community-based school feeding system, she said.
As part of the National Primary Education Week-2024, a total of 126 stakeholders were honoured with the medal in 18 categories as 36 students, 15 persons and three organisations received the medal directly from the prime minister.
The theme of the week is 鈥楽hishu Bandhob Prathomik Shikkha, Smart Bangladesher Deekkha鈥�.
State minister for primary and mass education Rumana Ali and secretary Farid Ahmed spoke at the function.
A video documentary on the activities of the development of primary and mass education across the country was also screened.
