Allocation for health, education sectors to rise in 2016-17 budget, Muhith says

The government will now lay emphasis on health and education after having given priority to power and communication in the past few years, the finance minister has said.

AMA Muhith said allocation for the education sector would be enhanced in the budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year.

He hoped the rise in allocation for education would continue over the next five to six years.

The minister was speaking at a Shahjalal Islami Bank programme at the Officers’ Club in Dhaka on Saturday.

The bank organised the programme to hand out stipends to around 500 SSC and HSC students.

He said the Awami League government had placed emphasis on power and communication in the past few years because these sectors were in a shambles when the party formed the government in 2009.

“Now our focus is on education and health because the power and communication sectors have shown some improvement,” he said.

He, however, added that allocation for a sector could not be hiked suddenly. “So we will gradually raise the allocations,” he said.

“We’ll have to appoint more teachers, and provide and improve teaching materials...I am looking into these matters. It will be possible to raise the allocation for education to some extent in this budget,” Muhith said.

The finance minister said the country might achieve ‘significant’ progress if the changes to be brought in the sector through this budget continued for five to six more years.

He emphasised quality education at the secondary level.

He said it was the government’s duty to prevent dropouts at the secondary level.

“The enrolment of children at the primary level is 99 percent, but it decreases to 60 percent at the secondary level,” the minister said.

Development in the education sector will only be a matter of time if the rate of enrolment could be raised to 80 percent, Muhith said.

“We hope all children eligible to get secondary level education will go to school by 2024,” he said.

The bank’s Chairman AK Azad suggested that the money recovered from bad loans and CSR funds should be utilised to develop the education sector.