Tarique for modern education, teachers’ financial security 

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Monday stressed modernising the education system, enhancing teachers’ dignity and ensuring their financial security to build a knowledge-based society capable of facing global challenges.

He also called for greater use of technology in education, saying artificial intelligence and other technologies should support teachers rather than replace them.

The Prime Minister made the remarks at a discussion marking World Teachers’ Day 2026 at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium. The Ministry of Education organised the programme under the theme “Standing with Teachers: Sixty Years of Protecting the Profession, Advancing its Status, Shaping our Futures.”

Tarique said teachers become students’ role models after they move beyond the family environment and stressed the need to ensure they can confidently fulfil that role.

He said the rapid development of social media and artificial intelligence had made it necessary to move beyond traditional teaching methods.

“Technical and practical education has become essential. Therefore, changing teaching and learning strategies and modernising the education curriculum have become a necessity of the time,” he said.

The government is working on a new curriculum and hopes students will receive textbooks based on it this year, Tarique said. He urged teachers to encourage students to ask “why” and “how” rather than simply memorise information.

He also highlighted joyful learning, saying “Learning with Happiness” has been introduced for Class VI students this year and will gradually be extended to other classes.

On artificial intelligence, Tarique said teacher-training colleges must be modernised to equip teachers with new skills. “We do not want to see technology as a substitute for teachers. Rather, technology will be a tool for teachers,” he said.

The government will advance the “One Teacher, One Tab” programme, enabling teachers to use tablets for digital lesson plans, question banks, monitoring students’ progress and accessing educational materials. Multimedia classes and free Wi-Fi facilities will also be expanded, he said.

Tarique said the government wants an education system where no child is deprived of education or forced to drop out. He said education has received the government’s highest priority and the country has allocated its highest-ever budget for the sector, with plans to increase it further over the next five years.

He sought teachers’ cooperation in implementing the government’s education plans and acknowledged disparities between urban and rural areas. The government, he said, is working to ensure equal opportunities, quality education and non-discriminatory access through qualified teachers and modern technology.

He said the secondary education sector alone has around 21,000 institutions and more than 300,000 teachers, with a large part of the system dependent on private and MPO-listed institutions.

The Prime Minister congratulated teachers recognised on the occasion and paid tribute to educators from primary schools to universities.

The award recipients included late educationist and former Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Prof Emajuddin Ahmed, former Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Anwarullah Chowdhury and National Professor Dr Mahbub Ullah.