Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said that the Bangladesh of 2041 will be a smart Bangladesh where every person will be technologically savvy and the country will not lag behind in the world arena.
“Our education and learning like e-education, e-health, e-business, e-economy, e-governance will be based on technical knowledge,” she said.
The prime minister said this while inaugurating the free textbook distribution program nationwide by handing over books to primary and secondary school students for the academic year 2023 at a function at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in Dhaka.
The National Textbook Festival is to be celebrated across the country on January 1.
She said that the entire country including all the villages will be technologically literate and the government is taking measures for this.
“We have launched the Bangabandhu-I satellite and we will launch our second satellite. We will connect different parts of the country with submarine cables. We will provide broadband internet all over (the country),” she said.
Sheikh Hasina mentioned that Bangladesh has achieved the status of a developing country as she celebrated the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of the country’s independence, she said, “No one can belittle Bangladesh now.”
“Bangladesh has now achieved a position in the world. And the Bangladesh of 2041 will be a developed and prosperous golden one that will also be smart,” she said.
She added, “From now on, if we take care of our children with sincerity, no one can stop this progressive march of ours.”
Sheikh Hasina said that to create a “Smart Bangladesh” by 2041, children will be provided with all the facilities that will be the driving force behind it.
“We will develop our children in such a way that they can cope with the technology-driven days ahead and prepare them to become skilled workforce for the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR),” she said.
She asked everyone to pay special attention to the blossoming of children’s hidden talents by nurturing their curiosity.
“With this in mind, we need to build them as citizens of a country fit for a smart Bangladesh by 2041,” she said.
The Prime Minister stated that the primary objective of the government is to create a technical and technologically qualified workforce by providing technical and vocational education.
“Our entire population will be technologically savvy, not behind the rest of the world,” she said.
The prime minister said that although the government introduced austerity measures in many matters to save public money due to the coronavirus and the Ukraine-Russia war, it did not compromise on the printing of textbooks for children.
“…we did not forget the children’s affairs, we did not discount the printing of their books, yes, we saved money from other parties (by introducing savings), but we paid special attention to the printing of their (children’s) books (textbooks),” she said.
She said that due to the coronavirus and the Ukraine-Russia war, the prices of all commodities increased, which led to the introduction of austerity measures by the government in many areas of public spending, but the government did not introduce austerity measures in the printing of textbooks for children and children. we give them away on the first day of the new year.
To achieve this, she said, the government has defied all obstacles, including the coronavirus, the Ukraine-Russia war and rising prices of all items.
She mentioned that if the children of the country can be built up with sincerity, then there is no force in the world that can stop the development and progress of the country.
Presiding Minister of Education Dr. Dipu Moni, MP, Deputy Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury, MP delivered the welcome address at the ceremony.
Minister of State for Basic and Mass Education Md Zakir Hossen, MP spoke as special guests.
According to the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB), as many as 33,91,12,300 textbooks are expected to be distributed across the country at the primary and secondary levels.
Government has printed these textbooks following proper standards for Pre-Primary, Primary, Secondary, Ebtedayee and SSC students and all students will get free textbooks on the first day of new year (2013).
The Primary Level Textbook Festival will be held centrally at the Dhaka University (DU) Central Ground while the Secondary Level Textbook Festival will be held at the Kapasia Pilot High School campus in Gazipur.
The current government started the distribution of free textbooks in 2010 and has distributed a total of 4,344,580,211 textbooks so far.
