The ministries of education and primary and mass education on Sunday agreed to collaborate for delivering education free of cost or at nominal cost up to Class VIII.
The primary and mass education ministry will expand their free education till Class VIII gradually, while the education ministry will work to reduce education cost of junior secondary level at the non-government schools.
Currently, education is free till Class V at the primary schools excluding the private ones.聽
The decision was taken to ensure the basic minimum rights to education till the junior secondary level and prevent dropouts, said a press release issued by the education ministry.聽
At an inter-ministerial meeting held at the education ministry鈥檚 conference room at the Secretariat on the day the decisions were taken.
Education minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury, state minister for education Begum Shamsun Nahar and state minister for primary and mass education Rumana Ali were present at the meeting among others.
The press release read that both ministries would work together to enhance the fundamental rights to education from primary to junior secondary level for implementing the political promise of the ruling Awami League government.
The ministries reached a consensus to deliver education services for free or at nominal cost up to Class VIII to prevent dropout of students at junior secondary and secondary levels due to increased cost of education and different socio-economic reasons.
The decision came in line with the National Education Policy, 2010.
The policy read that the primary level education should be till Class VIII instead of till Class V.
It also read that primary education should be universal, mandatory, free and of the same standard for all.
The meeting was attended, among others, by educationist and professor Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, BRAC University distinguished professor Mohammad Kaykobad, Dhaka University Institute of Education and Research director professor Md Abdul Halim, Secondary and Higher Education Division secretary Suleman Khan, Technical and Madrassah Education Division secretary Farid Uddin Ahmed, primary and mass education ministry secretary Farid Ahmed, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education director general professor Nehal Ahmed and Directorate of Primary Education director general Shah Rezwan Hayat.