Govt To Award Laptops To 40,000 SSC Golden GPA-5 Achievers

Aiming to nurture academic excellence and equip secondary school graduates with critical digital tools, the government has decided to award laptops to approximately 40,000 students achieving "Golden GPA-5" in the SSC and equivalent examinations of 2026. Concurrently, the administration has initiated an automated settlement protocol to disburse longstanding pension arrears directly into the bank accounts of nearly 70,000 retired teachers and institutional employees through the Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) and iBAS++ platforms.

The policy directives were recorded in the minutes of the first session of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Education, hosted at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. According to proceedings reported by national news agency BSS, the parliamentary body reviewed major structural reforms and financing targets for the nation's education architecture.

Briefing the committee, Senior Secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division Abdul Khaleq disclosed that a budgetary allocation of Tk 57,301.68 crore has been proposed for the division in the fiscal year 2026–27. The projection represents a 42.7 percent increase over the preceding revised budget. The decision to distribute laptops was finalized as part of a national strategy to align technical capabilities with international educational benchmarks. The parliamentary committee unanimously adopted a congratulatory motion acknowledging Prime Minister Tarique Rahman for spearheading the merit-based student initiative and teacher welfare programs.

The laptop distribution initiative follows an earlier policy announcement by Education and Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr. A. N. M. Ehsanul Hoque Milan in Khulna regarding digital learning devices, with the final criteria for Golden GPA-5 recipients confirmed through an official communication issued by the education minister’s media cell on 1 September.

Presided over by committee chairman Md. Salim Bhuiyan, the assembly formulated a 7-point policy framework to reform pedagogical quality. Committee members criticized reliance on aggregate pass-rate indicators, emphasizing that high pass volumes do not reflect authentic educational attainment. The committee urged the introduction of competency-based learning outcome assessments every three to six months. Drawing parallels with the Malaysian educational planning model, lawmakers recommended codifying a permanent, non-partisan national education blueprint to insulate textbooks and core curricula from frequent administrative and political turnover. Furthermore, committee member Reza Kibria stressed the necessity of year-wise international testing benchmarks to prevent domestic cohorts from lagging in core sciences and mathematics.

Key recommendations adopted by the committee include establishing continuous global evaluation metrics, conducting routine legislative inspections of schools and colleges to ensure budgetary accountability, mandating the presence of national university and education board heads at future legislative hearings, and creating expedited payment rosters for critically ill and Hajj-bound retired educators. Educationists have hailed the directives as a pivotal transition toward competency-based, quality-centric schooling, official sources confirmed.

//DBTech/BSS/SMP/MIST//