No Room for Manipulation in Education, Says Education Minister

Education Minister Dr. A N M Ehsanul Haque Milan has said there will be no room for manipulation in the education sector. He said the government is conducting field-level discussions alongside virtual meetings to identify and address weaknesses in the education system.

The minister made the remarks at a discussion meeting held at Barishal Shilpakala Academy on Wednesday (25 June) marking the preparation for the HSC and equivalent examinations 2026.

He said initiatives are being taken to recover the average two years of learning time lost from students’ lives. Technical education will be prioritised from Class Six, while teachers will receive training and each teacher will be provided with a tablet computer.

“The weaknesses in the education system will be removed and education will be made enjoyable. Education will no longer be held hostage,” the minister said.

He also said the dominance of CBA members and clerical staff in education boards would be reduced through inter-board transfers. He urged every school to introduce in-house coaching programmes and assured support from his own fund for the initiative.

The minister said around 60,000 government primary schools have remained without head teachers since 2017 due to complications related to recruitment and legal cases. He said cases filed under Section 211 of the Penal Code would be reviewed to prevent false lawsuits.

He said, “As long as I remain responsible, I will work like a lion for the improvement of the country’s education system. I will continue as long as people want me.”

The minister said the practice of showing inflated pass rates, similar to the return of a changed coronavirus variant, would be stopped. Real improvement in education quality would be ensured through teachers.

He added that funds had been provided from block allocations to ensure teachers receive salaries on time. However, a shortage of Tk 501 crore was created due to the recruitment of new teachers without adequate budget allocation by the interim government.

The minister said although the allocation for paying teachers’ salaries through Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) had increased eight times, the process is yet to be completed and is expected to finish by 27 July.

He also said examinations under nine education boards would be conducted with common question papers to reduce discrimination in evaluation.

The meeting was organised by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Barishal. The chairman of the Barishal Education Board delivered the welcome speech.

Barishal-2 Member of Parliament Sarfuddin Ahmed Santu said service-oriented institutions must be freed from politics.

Divisional Commissioner Khalil Ahmed said the current education minister played a role in establishing a copy-free education system in the country during 2001-2006. He added that the Prime Minister wants talented people to lead the nation.

Barishal City Mayor Advocate Bilkis Jahan Shirin said she felt ashamed of the previous culture of cheating as a teacher and praised efforts to establish a permanently cheating-free education system.

DIG Mostafizur Rahman said immediate action would be taken against anyone spreading false information on Facebook

//DBTech/SH/IH//