Investment in education should be steadfast, further boosted: Ambassador Whiteley

The European Union has transferred a grant of 60.125 million euros (around Tk 760.58 crore) to the Government of Bangladesh, following its successful implementation of some key ongoing education reforms, in line with the 2010 National Education Policy and the related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This substantial payment is part of the European Union’s broader commitment to support Bangladesh’s education system through a budget support operation of EUR 245 million for primary education along with technical and vocational education and training, said the EU Embassy in Dhaka on Thursday.

European Union Ambassador to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley said: “I commend the government of Bangladesh for its efforts to enhance its education system, emphasizing its significance within the national and global context.”

Stressing on education as the “most powerful tool” to ensure a peaceful society and prevent conflict, Whiteley added: “In the global challenging economic context, the fight against poverty and inequality has become paramount. Progress on climate change, digitalisation and conflict prevention is also becoming more and more important.”

For safeguarding values and future development, investment in education should be steadfast and further boosted, commented Whiteley.

Through this partnership, the Government of Bangladesh has committed to continue implementing the initiatives critical to improving the delivery of quality education services along with strengthening the institutions for efficient use of resources.

Thus, even the poorest children and young population of the country will benefit from receiving quality education for employment and decent work.

With a view to upgrading the quality of teachers, in fiscal year 2022-2023, the Government of Bangladesh continued to work to increase the number of trained teachers with special emphasis on professional development.

In this context, more teachers were trained both in the primary and TVET subsectors. Additionally, the focus continued on universal enrolment, in particular, students from the marginalised and vulnerable population.

In this context, while more students with disability and from ethnic minority groups were enrolled in TVET, the Government of Bangladesh partnering with NGOs, has successfully brought back a significant number of children (around 8 lakh) to schools who were never enrolled or dropped out.

This shows the Government of Bangladesh’s commitment to ensuring the SDG principle that no one is left behind.

With support from the European Union, the Government of Bangladesh also continued its work towards strengthening data systems for planning, such as HRMIS and a sector performance system in TVET, said the Embassy.

Finally, the National Action Plan 2022-2027 for Skills Development in Bangladesh was published in the Bangladesh Gazette to facilitate access to decent jobs and promotion of employment opportunities.

The disbursement of this payment comes after a positive decision of the Budget Support Steering Committee of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships in June 2024.