Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Wednesday said the government has decided to elevate the level of primary education up to class VIII. According to the National Education Policy-2010, the primacy education level from class I to class VIII will now be under the jurisdiction of the Primary and Mass Education Ministry, Nahid told reporters after a meeting on Education Policy at the Secretariat. Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman, Dhaka University Vice Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique, Dr Khaliquzzaman and high officials concerned of the ministry were, among others, present at the meeting held with Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid in the chair. “We’ve decided to extend the primary level up to class VIII and a summary of the decision will be sent to the Prime Minister soon,” said Nahid. Replying to a question about the decision, the minister said, “In the National Education Policy-2010, there’s a directive to extend the level of primary education up to class VIII from class V by 2018, and now a process is underway to implement it.” Replying to a query whether the students will sit for both the PSC and JSC examinations, Nahid said, “There has been no decision yet in this regard and the Primary and Mass Education Ministry will take the decision later.” Meanwhile, Mostafizur Rahman said, “There’re some formalities to implement this important decision. We’ll implement it soon and all the educational activities up to class VIII will be under his ministry once it is implemented.” — Dhaka, May 18 (UNB)
