The Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, on Monday described the country’s education system as ‘extremely low quality’, blaming the politicians and the bureaucracy for the longstanding neglect of education.
He made the comments while speaking at a reception ceremony at the Freedom Fighters’ Hall of the Diploma Engineers’ Institute in the capital’s Kakrail area.
A monthly magazine, University Porikroma, organised the event to honour the students who achieved GPA-5 in the SSC examinations.
Fakhrul said that the nation had historically given very little importance to education.
Addressing the broader political situation, he said that politicians are losing unity following the recent mass uprising.
‘After such a major movement, we have an unprecedented opportunity to rebuild the country. Yet, we see politicians losing unity. Everywhere, there is a tone of discord, which is deeply disheartening,’ Fakhrul said.
He highlighted the ongoing teachers’ protests over pay hike issues and stressed the need for a more strategic approach to education.
Fakhrul said that if the education system could be restructured to offer higher education to the most talented students while providing vocational and technical training to the majority, the benefits to society would be immense.
He called for a greater emphasis on technical education to ensure employment opportunities for the youth.
Reflecting on generational differences, Fakhrul said that the country is in a transitional period marked by instability, and that the thinking and mindset of Generation Z are vastly different from those of older generations, making the generational gap impossible to ignore.
In a separate programme, Fakhrul addressed the members of the Hindu community at the BNP chairperson’s office in the capital’s Gulshan area on the occasion of Diwali, offering congratulations and assurances of solidarity.
He condemned attempts to create division within the nation and warned that the government and law enforcement agencies should not harass minority communities.
He reaffirmed that the BNP remained committed to standing with them.
Fakhrul said that the party’s belief in Bangladesh nationalism seeks to unite people of all religions.
He said that the party aimed to build a genuinely non-communal ‘Rainbow State’ by 2030.
At the event, more than fifty members of the Hindu community from Gopalganj and other areas, led by community leaders Somnath Dey, Kapil Krishna Mondal, and Somen Saha, joined the BNP by presenting flowers to Fakhrul.
