Tk 450 Crore '9 Government School & College' Project Plagued by Delays, Second Extension Underway

The Ministry of Education’s ambitious "Establishment of 9 Government School and Colleges Project" is facing a second consecutive timeline extension. Despite a massive allocation of nearly Tk 450 crore and a six-year operational timeline, only two out of the nine planned integrated institutions have successfully initiated academic operations. Construction remains incomplete for the remaining seven institutions, stalling the interim government's efforts to expand modern, state-backed secondary and higher secondary facilities.

A Shifting Timeline and Delayed Academic Calendar

The project originally commenced in October 2018 with visible infrastructural work beginning in June 2019. In 2022, the ministry officially revised the project's title to its current iteration to reflect the integrated school-and-college format. With a total budget allocation of Tk 446 crore, the structural design blueprints mandate six-story buildings for two institutions and ten-story high-rise infrastructure for the remaining seven.

Although the initial deadline was set for December 2025, a sluggish implementation pace forced an initial one-year extension through December 2026. While construction for four of the remaining seven institutions is on track to wrap up by this December, the remaining three are lagging significantly behind. Consequently, the project management is seeking a second extension of an additional six months.

Project insiders reveal that because these final three institutions will likely finish construction midway through 2027 (around June-July), they will miss the conventional January academic session. As a result, student admissions and academic operations for these lagging facilities are effectively pushed back to January 2028, though the recruitment of mandatory teaching and administrative staff will be finalized beforehand.

The Catalysts of Sluggish Execution

According to institutional sources, the prolonged delay is attributed to several distinct operational and socio-political hurdles:

• Land Acquisition Bottlenecks: Protracted bureaucratic delays in purchasing and legally acquiring land initially stalled the deployment of heavy construction equipment.

• The Pandemic Interruption: Progress ground to a near-total halt for approximately two years during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Political Volatility: The historic July 2024 Mass Uprising and the subsequent formation of the interim government caused significant shifts in administrative oversight, slowing down operational momentum down the line.

High-Capacity Infrastructure Left Vacant

Each of these modern public institutions is engineered to accommodate approximately 1,400 students. The cumulative master plan for the nine campuses incorporates 145 high-tech classrooms, multimedia learning hubs, advanced ICT laboratories, fully equipped science laboratories, seminar halls, multipurpose auditoriums, modern libraries, and specialized facilities like BNCC and Girls Guide rooms.

The operational breakdown of the nine institutions across the country stands as follows:

• Operational since 2026: Shaheed Mahtab Uddin Mondal Government Girls School & College (Joypurhat) and Bormachhara Tea Garden Government School & College in Sreemangal (Moulvibazar).

• Slated for the 2027 Academic Session: Shaheed Jononi Jahanara Imam Government School & College (Rajshahi), Birangana Monchura Begum Government School & College (Rangpur), Shah Amanat International Airport Government School & College (Chattogram), and Masterda Surjasen Government School & College (Chattogram). The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) has already appointed institutional heads (principals) for these four locations to fast-track assistant teacher recruitments.

• Delayed until 2028: Hasan Azizul Huq Government School & College (Rajshahi), Birangana Rupali Rani Singha Government School & College (Rangpur), and Bhasha Shaheed Abdul Jabbar Government School & College (Mymensingh).

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, senior project officials confirmed that while two campuses are fully functional and four are practically ready to take in students next year, the remaining three cannot avoid a deadline extension due to remaining structural pending works.