Initiatives taken to revise education policy: Minister
After bringing the huge population of the country under education the government now wants to achieve quality education, says Dr Dipu Moni
Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni has said the government has taken initiatives to revise the education policy that was last formulated in 2010.
"The education policy was formulated about 10 years ago. Many changes have taken place in this long period. Therefore, now is the time to revise, refine and add to the education policy," she said while speaking as the chief guest at an online discussion on Wednesday.
The online discussion styled "Education Technology Hand Agriculture Transformation" was organised by the Planning Commission as part of the 8th Five-year Plan.
The education minister said, "We have been able to bring the huge population of the country under education. Now we need to achieve quality of education. The government is committed to ensuring quality education at all levels of education."
Dr Dipu Moni also mentioned that enactment of an integrated education law is in its final stage. The government is focusing on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) to improve the quality of education.
"We want to create skilled workforces and people with humanity through our education system. The government has emphasised on various soft skills including honesty, ethics, patriotism, communication skills, team building, and critical thinking in this regard," Dr Dipu Moni said.
Talking about the importance of online education, the minister said in this era of the fourth industrial revolution, people's workplace may change so much that the knowledge acquired now will not be needed in the future.
"We need to improve our education system so that an employee can re-skill and upskill to adapt to any change at any time," Dipu Moni added.
"We need to have opportunities in our education system so that one can learn online," she further said.
Chairman of the University Grants Commission Kazi Shahidullah said, "I have received complaints from various quarters that they are not getting the required skilled human resources."
"This means we are not able to train students efficiently according to the demands of the labour market. We need to focus on building skilled manpower now," he added.
Senior Secretary of the Planning Commission and Ekushey Padak award recipient Dr Shamsul Alam presented the keynote paper at the meeting.
Among others, vice-chancellors of various universities, and other eminent academics were present in the meeting.