Edn budget amounts to Tk 94,710 cr
Staff Reporter :
In a significant move to prioritize the development of human capital and foster a knowledge-based economy, the government has proposed a substantial raise in the allocation within the education sector.
The Finance Minister, Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, presented the education budget for the upcoming fiscal year before the August house, revealing a 7.42 percent increase amounting to Tk 94,710 crore.
This new allocation represents 11.88 percent of the total budget and 1.69 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), underscoring the government’s commitment to enhancing educational opportunities and infrastructure across the nation.
Breaking down the allocation, Tk 44,108 crore has been earmarked for the secondary and higher education division, up from Tk 42,839 crore in FY2023-24.
Additionally, Tk 11,783 crore has been allocated for technical and madrasa education, compared to Tk 10,602 crore in FY2023-24.
The Primary and Mass Education Ministry has received a significant budget boost, with Tk 38,819 crore allocated for the fiscal year 2024-25, marking a notable increase from the Tk 34,722 crore designated in the current fiscal year 2023-24.
In his budget speech, Finance Minister Mahmood Ali emphasized the critical role of education in shaping a future-ready Bangladesh, articulating the government’s vision for a prosperous nation by 2041.
“Smart citizens will be instrumental to building a developed, prosperous, and smart Bangladesh by 2041. Therefore, we need to properly train our future generation in science, technology, and technical education to achieve the dream of building a smart Bangladesh,” stated Minister Ali.
The government has identified the creation of a science and technology-based, skill-enhancing, and creative learning environment as a priority.
Ensuring an employment-friendly education system and promoting youth employment are highlighted as special priorities in the election manifesto.
The finance minister also highlighted significant achievements in the education sector, describing them as ‘enviable’. He noted that the literacy rate, which was 45 percent in 2006, rose to 76.8 percent in 2023.
Additionally, the participation of girls in primary education has surged from 54 percent to 98.25 percent. Technical education has also seen a dramatic increase in enrolment rates, from 0.8 percent in 2006 to 17.88 percent in 2023, a 22-fold increase.
In a bid to transform Bangladesh into a developed, prosperous, and smart country by 2041, Minister Ali emphasized the government’s dedication to fostering an educational environment conducive to science, education, scientific research, and innovation.
The minister further said that the stipend and school feeding programme for more than 27 lakh students from 15,470 government primary schools in 104 upazilas have prevented dropout at primary education level.
“The net enrolment rate in primary education has increased from 90.8 percent in 2009 to 97.56 percent in 2022 as a result of well-thought-out government policies. The dropout rate in primary education was 45.1 percent in 2009, which declined to 13.95 percent in 2022,” he said.
Despite an increase of allocation, international bodies and experts always prefer some six per cent of the total GDP to education sector, but over the last 15 years actual spending on education as a proportion of GDP has consistently remained below 2 percent.
It may be noted that in the inaugural year of its four consecutive terms in 2009-10, the Awami League government allocated Tk 11,996 crore for education, amounting to 1.52 percent of GDP.
