The government will give laptops to students who earned a golden GPA-5 in this year’s secondary (SSC) and higher secondary (HSC) exams. The education ministry is making the arrangements on the prime minister’s instructions. Separately, the parliamentary standing committee on the education ministry has decided to form a committee to investigate allegations of corruption and irregularities in the printing of NCTB textbooks.
Education Secretary Abdul Khalek gave the information at a meeting of the standing committee in parliament. According to the minutes, the secretary said so at the committee’s first meeting on 10 September. At the start of Sunday’s meeting, the minutes of that earlier meeting were approved and confirmed with amendments.
According to the minutes, the secretary told the meeting that, in line with the prime minister’s instructions, arrangements were being made to give a laptop to each of the roughly 40,000 students who achieved a golden GPA in 2026.
In 2026, 116,676 students got a GPA-5 in the SSC and equivalent exams.
At a press briefing after the meeting, committee chair Selim Bhuiyan told journalists that the parliamentary committee would investigate allegations of corruption and irregularities in the printing of books by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB). It has decided to form an investigation committee for that purpose.
Selim Bhuiyan said the parliamentary committee would look into allegations of irregularities and corruption at the various offices, directorates and agencies under the education ministry. If needed, several investigation committees would be formed and the work divided among members. The NCTB matter, he said, they would investigate without fail. Once the investigation ends, a report would go to the prime minister and recommendations to the Speaker of parliament.
The chair said they did not want any problem in distributing books for the new school year and did not want to cause panic. But they wanted a remedy for what he called the fascists’ collaborators, who still have a stranglehold on the printing industry. If needed, a report and recommendations would go to the prime minister after the investigation.
The meeting also discussed easing the hardship of private-school teachers who have applied for their retirement benefits and welfare trust money. The chair said these funds hold more than Tk 1,600 crore. The committee recommended paying quickly those applicants whose dues can be settled, and giving priority to applications from teachers with incurable illnesses and teachers who wish to perform Hajj.
The chair said the committee had advised consulting stakeholders before finalising the policy on forming managing committees of private educational institutions, and warned against keeping controversial provisions that could lead to harassment of teachers. The meeting also discussed bringing teachers and staff of non-MPO institutions under the MPO, the staffing structure of institutions and the difficulties in recruiting new teachers.
A press release said the meeting urged that the latest regulations on forming managing committees of private institutions set a bachelor’s degree as the minimum qualification for the chair.
A release from the parliament secretariat after the meeting said the committee was briefed on NTRCA’s recruitment of principals, vice-principals, superintendents, assistant superintendents, head teachers and assistant head teachers at private institutions, and told that the oral exams in the current recruitment would be finished by December.
The meeting, chaired by committee chair Md Selim Bhuiyan, was also attended by committee members Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon, Tahsina Rushdir, Selimuzzaman Molla, Jahandar Ali Mia, Bithika Binte Hossain, Mujibur Rahman and Atiqur Rahman Mujahid.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report