Prime Minister to Gift Tablets to All GPA-5 Achiever

Education Minister Dr ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon says Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will honour students who secured GPA-5 in this year’s SSC examination and is considering gifting tablets to 116,000 newly passed students to encourage them in their studies.

The minister made the remarks as the chief guest at a discussion marking Khulna University of Engineering & Technology Day on Tuesday (September 1). Dr Milon said the gifts would be provided to encourage students to pay greater attention to their studies.

“Prime Minister himself told us that students should be encouraged further so that they study properly. That is why he is considering giving these 116,000 tablets,” the minister said.

He said the initiative was intended to motivate students to remain focused on education. The education minister also said the government was considering another initiative to encourage female students in secondary schools.

“Look, we have around 19,000 secondary schools. To further encourage girls in every class to pursue education, he will talk about a gift for them today. That is ‘Pinky motorcycles’ to be given to them,” Dr Milon said. He described the initiatives as discussions by the prime minister to motivate students towards education.

Dr Milon also acknowledged delays in teacher recruitment under the Ministry of Education and said the issue was on the agenda for discussion.

“Teacher recruitment in our Ministry of Education is being delayed. This is a complication for us. These issues are on today’s agenda. We have to discuss this huge agenda,” he said.

Dr Milon said discussions were also underway on budget allocations, the recruitment of around 77,000 teachers, arrangements for their examinations and other related matters.

He said the prime minister gives the highest priority to education and has allocated 2 percent of GDP to the sector in the current budget, with plans to increase it to up to 5 percent.

“This kind of investment in education has not been made by previous governments,” the minister said.