Quality education top priority

Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni yesterday said the government is working relentlessly to ensure quality of education along with improving human resources.

“We have adopted diversified measures including infrastructural development, teachers’ training and recruitment of quality teachers to ensure quality of education for achieving sustainable development goals,” she added.

The minister was addressing the inaugural ceremony of a two-day reunion celebration of the HSC alumnus of Rajshahi College as chief guest.

Established in 1873, the college is hosting this festival for the first time in its 146-year history. More than 10,000 attendees including some 8,400 alumnus are taking part in the celebration.

Dipu Moni said all the 13 century-old colleges in the country, including Rajshahi College, will be transformed into a centre of excellence to enrich the education sector.

She urged all, particularly teachers, to ensure quality education terming it the first and foremost demand of the nation. This should be given the top priority and teachers and other stakeholders must play proactive roles in this regard, she stressed.

In response to some demands placed before the minister for further improvement of the college, Dipu Moni said a new 10-storey dormitory for female students and an administrative building will be built soon.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam, State Minister for ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak, and lawmakers Abdul Quddus, Ayen Uddin and Adiba Anjum Mita also spoke at the event, chaired by college Principal Prof Habibur Rahman.

The event was told that Rajshahi College has been adjudged as the country’s best educational institution for the fourth consecutive year for its outstanding performance in the academic arena since 2016. National University also declared the college as the best, based on its ranking.

It is said to be the third oldest institutions for higher education in Bangladesh after Dhaka College and Chattogram College.

Within a short period after its establishment in 1873, the college became one of the main centres of higher education for people in East Bengal, North Bengal, Bihar and Assam.

Before the opening ceremony, a rally was brought out from the college premises.