The budget allocation for the entire education sector increased by Tk 933 crore in the proposed national budget of Tk 7,89,999 crore, announced today by Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed for the financial year 2025-2026, reports BSS.
A total of Tk 95,645 crore has been allocated to the education sector, with the primary and mass education ministry receiving Tk 35,403 crore and the education ministry's two divisions- Secondary and Higher Education and Technical and Madrasa Education Tk 47,564 crore and Tk 12,678 crore respectively.
The size of the original budget for the current fiscal year was Tk 7,97,000 crore, which was revised down to Tk 7,44,000 crore.
According to budget documents from the Finance Division, the Ministry of Education's two divisions, Secondary and Higher Education and Technical and Madrasa Education, have received notable increases in the 2025-26 proposal.
The Secondary and Higher Education Division has been allocated Tk 47,564 crore, up by Tk 3,456 crore from the previous year's Tk 44,108 crore. The revised budget last year had reduced this to Tk 39,233 crore, making this year's proposal a significant rebound.
Besides, the Technical and Madrasa Education Division has also seen a boost, receiving Tk 12,678 crore in the proposed budget; an increase of Tk 895 crore from the original 2024-25 allocation of Tk 11,783 crore. This year's figure is even more striking when compared to the previous year's revised allocation of just Tk 9,953 crore.
However, the primary and mass education ministry has been allocated Tk 35,403 crore, a decrease of Tk 3,416 crore from the previous year's proposed allocation of Tk 38,819 crore, although it is slightly higher than the Tk 35,123 crore in the revised budget.
While proposing a budget for secondary and higher education, the education adviser said, "Existing textbooks have already been revised and updated to ensure quality education. To modernise the higher education system and align it with international standards, the curricula of all private universities have been updated based on the globally recognised outcome-based education (OBE) model."
He said under the Secondary and Higher Education Division, 62 projects are being implemented with an allocation of Tk 1,957 crore for educational infrastructure development and other initiatives.
"Besides, plans have been taken to construct ICT infrastructure, including necessary buildings, at Dhaka University, BUET and Jashore Science and Technology University, which will be used as modern classrooms, laboratories and start-up incubation centres for the ICT students," he added.
Moreover, the government has provided stipends to 51 lakh insolvent meritorious students at secondary level, 8 lakh at higher secondary level and 1 lakh 65 thousand at undergraduate level in the current fiscal year, he said.
Regarding the technical and Madrasa education division, the adviser said that Technical and vocational education plays an important role in ensuring employment opportunities both at home and abroad.
"At present, the enrollment rate in technical education is 19 per cent. Women's polytechnic and engineering colleges are being established at every visionary level, polytechnics at the district level and technical schools at upazila level to substantially increase this rate in the future," he said.
Besides, the government is implementing extensive programs for the development of Madrasa education, he said, adding, "The construction of 1,135 Madrasa buildings has already been completed, and construction of 513 multi-storied buildings is underway. Work is underway to bring 1,519 madrasas across the country under MPO."
"Moreover, multimedia classrooms have been set up in 493 madrasas, which are playing a role in making madrasa education time-befitting. I propose to allocate Tk 728 crore for inclusion of stipend at the Ebtedayee level and MPO enrollment of Madrasas," he said.
Commenting on primary and mass education, the adviser said, "The most important foundation of a child's cognitive development is laid at the level of primary education. Considering this, short, medium and long-term reform activities have been started based on the recommendations of the consultation committee formed for the development of primary education, whose main goal is to create a suitable environment and ensure quality education for the students."
To ensure an enabling environment for primary education, 5,946 classrooms, 17,164 wash blocks and 4,450 tubewells have been set up in primary schools across the country in the current fiscal year, he said, adding, "At present, construction of 21,278 classrooms, construction of 18,476 wash blocks and installation of 6,984 tubewells are underway."
Besides, 9 crore 19 lakh 50 thousand 492 books have been distributed from pre-primary to class 5 in the current academic year, he added.
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