20pc of budget for education urged
The University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman yesterday urged the government to allocate 20 percent of the upcoming budget for the education sector and 0.8 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for higher education.
“Funding in education is a major problem. If we want to produce world class graduates, we have to increase the budgetary allocation,” said UGC Chairman Prof Dr AK Azad Chowdhury at a press conference.
The press conference was jointly organised by UGC and British Council, Dhaka at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel to share the experience of “Going Global 2012 Conference”, some international educational symposiums British Council hosted in London from March 13 to 15.
The education sector received 12 percent of the total budget in the current fiscal year while the allocation for higher education was only 0.23 percent of the GDP, said Azad.
Buet Vice-Chancellor (VC) Dr SM Nazrul Islam, Stamford University VC Dr Majibur Rahman, Exim Bank Director AKM Nurul Fazal Bulbul, American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh President Aftab ul Islam and Dhaka University sociology department Prof Zeenat Huda also spoke.
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