PM's landmark initiative kindles light for nation

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launched distribution of free text books for school children across the country on the maiden day of 2017, as  she does every year, stoking up praises for her landmark initiative that has boosted hopes for better future of the young generation as well as the nation itself.
Free text books have reinforced hopes of even poor families for education of their children, who otherwise would not be able to afford the high costs of new books for all grades of school students. Not only the children but their parents and the whole country rise up in celebration on January 1 when the free distribution of text books begins.
This brings smiles on the faces of all school going kids who earlier had to wait until March-April for buying new books from the market. Sometimes new text books did not arrive in the market until the middle of the year, thus forcing half of the academic year to be wasted and casting a damper on the students' spirits.
In the old days, under the above circumstances, students would rush to buy old (used) books from senior students, which were also available aplenty in the markets. Students who had passed out in a school examination would first prefer to hand their books to the younger brother or sister - who would pass them on to their juniors the next year. This helped academic sessions to begin on time in January - and also spared poor parents from the burden of buying costly new books for their boys and girls.
But Sheikh Hasina, after taking over as Prime Minister of Bangladesh, changed the whole concept and put publication and distribution of text books in a new perspective - give them out in time and free for the school goers. It triggered national jubilation and became a regular feature in the country's education arena.
For that, the PM has introduced an unavoidable culture of selecting, printing, and binding the text books months before the advent of a new year - and made it mandatory they would be handed to the students on the very first day of the following year. Nowadays students and parents both wait for that special moment when the school children will dress up and go to their schools to collect new books. Getting them in hand, the students embark on a celebration like they would do over the victory of their favorite football or cricket teams. They come back home all smiling and share the joy with their parents, friends and neighbours.
It all was made possible by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's noble gesture to ensure education for all children and make it affordable and enjoyable.
The Prime Minister has received many accolades both in the country and abroad for her astounding leadership that brought her at par with most international leaders. But she deserves the best accolade perhaps for lighting the nation's hopes for the future by confirming
education for the young generation who would ultimately take over the leadership of the country and society. She added this marvel to her nation building efforts that even her enemies appreciate as an unprecedented welfare scheme for the budding boys and girls.
Supply of free text books has increased enrolment in the schools and decreased dropouts, raising the rate of literacy starkly higher in Bangladesh. Now the students feel a natural urge to go to school and their parents also do not keep their children home because of financial constraints. This comes as a turning point for the country from being largely illiterate to moderately literate at all levels. The brighter students then naturally move up the scale to receive higher education in colleges and universities - although costs of studying at private universities are still too high.
We hope that besides her free books scheme, the PM  will also take the initiative to establish more public universities and cut education fees at private universities across the country. Now that Sheikh Hasina has laid out the very crucial step for the minor students by giving them free books, she will likely expand the steps for them to reach the top of the ladder - and make a bright future for themselves and the nation.