Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sought the support of university teachers in the coming election to continue the country’s current pace of development.
“We want your support so that country’s present pace of development continues, as all our works, those we did from 1996 to 2001, were destroyed after the change in government in 2001,” she said.
The Prime Minister was addressing a ‘University Teachers’ Conference’ organised by the Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers Association (FBUTA) at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka on Saturday, reports BSS.
The Prime Minister said, “Bangladesh would go forward, it doesn’t matter whether we are in power or not. We will come to power if we get people’s mandate.”
“And, I would have no regret if we don’t come to power again,” she said adding that “however I expect that you would take care of the pace of development that we have already achieved.”
The Prime Minister said, “We want to take forward the country” to make it a poverty and hunger free nation as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
“But a nation is unable to get rid of poverty and hunger without education. So we always give importance to education and teachers proactive role in this regard,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina said her government has already done everything that it should for the teachers including hiking their salary and service age limit.
“Side by side we give importance to research through which we have made the country self reliant in food, fish, fruits and vegetable production,” she said.
Instead of making the existing universities more crowded, Sheikh Hasina said her government is willing to build more universities in new areas to allow the students to have their higher education from their house.
“It will also help the students to remain under vigilance of their guardians and society during their studies and debar them from being associated with militancy and anti-social activities,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina said her government has brought the Madrasa education to the mainstream of the society, creating opportunities for about 15 million children to get the scope of higher studies.
“Bangladesh was born with secular spirit and we want to build the country in that way so that superstation and communalism don’t grasp our children.”
About the demands of the university teachers the prime minister asked them to give their demands in writing saying her government may consider those demands if it comes to power for next tenure.
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, University Grants Commission Chairman Prof. Abdul Mannan and Secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division Sohrab Hossain attended the function as special guests.
President of FBUTA ASM Maksud Kamal was in the chair while Secretary General Prof. Shibli Rubayet Ul Islam conducted the function.
At the very outset, a documentary on the programms taken by the present government for development of the education sector was screened.
