The government has decided to give a laptop to each of the roughly 40,000 students who achieved a “golden GPA-5” in the 2026 SSC and equivalent examinations, a major step to develop students’ talent and technical skills and bring the education system in line with international standards.
Several other important decisions and recommendations for the education sector were also made, including paying the outstanding dues of retired teachers and staff, raising the quality of education and changing the way students are assessed.
The parliamentary standing committee on the education ministry held its first meeting at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on 10 September. According to the minutes of the meeting, a number of landmark proposals were put forward for the overall reform and development of the country’s education sector.
Abdul Khaleque, senior secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division, told the meeting that the division’s proposed budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year is Tk 57,301.68 crore, 42.7 percent more than the previous revised budget.
The main decisions at a glance:
- Laptops for about 40,000 students who earned golden GPA-5 in the SSC and equivalent examinations.
- The outstanding dues of about 70,000 retired teachers and staff to be sent directly to their bank accounts through EFT and iBas++.
- Yearly assessment to international standards in core subjects such as mathematics and science.
- A long-term, permanent national vision for education, modelled on Malaysia’s.
Earlier, at an event in Khulna, Education and Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr A.N.M. Ehsanul Haque Milon spoke of a technology-friendly initiative for GPA-5 achievers. On 1 September, the minister’s media cell confirmed that this year’s golden GPA-5 achievers would be given free laptops.
The parliamentary committee unanimously thanked the BNP-led government and Prime Minister Tareque Rahman for what it called a timely step to settle teachers’ and staff’s dues quickly.
Md Selim Bhuiyan, chairman of the standing committee on the education ministry, said a rising pass rate alone cannot be the true measure of education. The committee urged a system that assesses learning outcomes not just yearly but every three or six months. To stop education policy and the curriculum from changing every time the government or the people in charge change, it proposed a permanent framework modelled on Malaysia’s. Committee member Reza Kibria stressed that international standards must be introduced so that students do not fall behind in world-class competition in mathematics and science.
The parliamentary committee made seven recommendations to raise the quality of education and ensure transparency and accountability: develop yearly international indicators and assessment methods to measure the quality of education; have committee members inspect schools and colleges to ensure education funds are used properly and free of corruption; ensure that the heads of the National University and the education boards attend future meetings; draw up a separate list to quickly pay the dues of teachers going on Hajj and those with incurable illnesses; speed up the processing of other outstanding allowances, subject to the budget; carry out research into the real reasons for falling enrolment at secondary level; and train teachers regularly and expand technical education.
Educationists in the country have called the government’s initiative and the committee’s recommendations timely and groundbreaking. In their view, replacing artificial pass rates with learning outcomes and an international-standard curriculum would bring positive and lasting change to the country’s education system.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report