Education Must Get Top Priority in Budget: Education Minister

Education Minister A N M Ehsanul Haq Milon has said that setting education as the highest priority is essential for a nation's progress. Speaking with journalists at the Secretariat on Wednesday (18 February), he shared his views on budget allocation for the education sector and the ministry's vision.

He remarked that education ministries are usually assigned to people with a cultural mindset. But culture does not necessarily mean only dance, music, drama, or becoming film stars. But today, education is the basic foundation, and we want to lead everywhere. We want to shape everything according to our own vision, and that starts now.

Expressing frustration over inadequate budget allocation for education, the minister said past governments failed to give education proper priority, reducing it to just 2% of GDP instead of 5–6%. We must first decide exactly what we want, then address the budget question.

He added that after 54 years of independence, there is no longer any excuse to allocate more budget to other sectors than to education. In the past (like 1972), food security and other crises took precedence over education. But times have changed, and the state's mindset must change too. Determining priorities before budgeting is crucial.

When asked about the controversial curriculum and textbooks of the last 15 years, the minister replied that it is not yet time for final decisions on curriculum. Discussions on curriculum will come later. Right now, the main task is to properly lay the basic foundation and priorities of education.