Staff Reporter :
The country sees a greater prospect for future as the interim government led by Nobel laureate Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus has started working to root out corruptions and irregularities in different sectors through reformation.
In this circumstance, few projects of the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) including Fourth Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP4) have now got rapid pace due to strong leadership and management of its Additional Chief Engineer Abdur Rashid Mian.
Behind the progress, there are greater contribution and patronisation of AF Hassan Ariff, Adviser of the Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives affairs Ministry and Professor Dr. Bidhan Ranjan Roy Poddar, Adviser of the Primary and Mass-Education affairs Ministry.
With the instructions and assistance of both the advisers, project works are progressing fast that raises hope among the concerned beneficiaries after a long time.
It is to be mentioned that, Primary and Mass Education Ministry has taken several initiatives to ensure best quality of primary education for all children in the country.
Fourth Primary Education Development Program (PEDP4) is one of the important projects.
It is the government’s flagship initiative in the education sector aiming to provide quality education to all children.
The Fourth Primary Education Development Program will support Bangladesh’s primary education system to become an efficient and effective system that provides quality primary education to all Bangladeshi children. The program will focus on strengthening quality of education, improving access to education, and enhancing institutional management through decentralization.
The project is being implemented with the joint financial supports of Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), European Union, UNICEF and Bangladesh.
Construction of 44,000 additional class rooms, 5000 rooms for headmasters, 9,500 boundary walls for schools, large shape repairing works for 5000 schools, construction and extension works of PTI and National Primary Education Academy (Nape) building in Mymensingh are mentionable among other project works.
Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) under supervision of the Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Ministry and the Primary and Mass-Education Ministry has been implementing the project in different remote shoals, coastal regions, hill tracts, haors and tea garden rich areas, which are considered as backward and challenge prone areas in the country since July 2018 with a completion deadline in June 2025.
But, it was a matter of sorrow that, the project progress was only 38 percent until 2023 due to several complications including corona pandemic.
The project progress has reached near about 65 percent within a year. The concerned persons are expecting to complete the works in scheduled time. LGED officials are doing their best under the guidelines of its Additional Chief Engineer Abdur Rashid Mian.
Besides, the construction of 114 new schools including beautification and infrastructure development works in Dhaka and Purbachal area are also going on at a swift pace.
“If the trend of such progress continues, the works will complete in time. Besides, educational sector will see a new horizon. Many children, who had been remained backward position, will get educational facilities after completion of the project,” many officers in the department opined.
LGED has moved forward compared to previous period with the hard efforts of its many officers like Abdur Rashid Mian. To keep the department transparent and free from corruption and anomalies, there is no alternative of such leadership.