e-News® | The NEWS Company…DHAKA, March 02, 2016 :In a major step to promote IT education and training at grassroots level, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today inaugurated 125 Upazila ICT Training and Resources Centre for Education (UITRCE).
The premier expressed her government’s firm resolve to make the country’s education system completely based on technology saying every school will have multimedia classroom and UITRCEs would be set up in every upazila headquarters gradually. The prime minister inaugurated the UITRCEs through video conference from her Tejgaon office with the officials and dignitaries of four Upazilas.
Terming the opening of the UITRCEs as a milestone in the way of building a digital Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina said Bangladesh cannot lag behind while the world is moving forward fast with new technologies. “The UITRCEs would promote IT based education and help building a developed country,” she said.
Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS) of the Education Ministry has constructed the UITRCEs with the financial support of EDCF Korea (Korea EXIM Bank). Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid and South Korean Ambassador in Bangladesh Ahn Seong-doo attended the function as special guest while education secretary Sohrab Hossain was in the chair. Director of BANBEIS and Project Director of the UITRCE Project M Fasiullah also spoke on the occasion.
The prime minister exchanged pleasantries with local dignitaries of Tungipara of Gopalganj district, Paba of Rajshahi district and Chowddogram upazila of Comilla district through video conference. The UITRCEs will provide training to computer trainers who will later conduct mass training programme in computer application to the teachers of primary schools, secondary schools, madrasahs and colleges in the respective upazila.
The Prime Minister said new technology can help a country to prosper through making the society corruption free, quick implementation of the development projects, proper auditing and accelerating the pace of development. Sheikh Hasina said her government’s development activities are not urban centric. Because of giving emphasis on rural economy, she said, marginal people are enjoying the benefit of our development, reducing the disparity between rich and poor people.
The prime minister said digital technology has been reached to every nook and corners of the country through setting up 5,275 union digital centres. Eight thousand post-offices are also being transformed into digital centres so that people can get service from those centres, she said adding that availability of electricity is encouraging people to be technology friendly. Sheikh Hasina said she firmly believe that the country would not be poverty free without educating the nation. So the government has attached highest importance to education side by side ensuring their access to housing and healthcare services.
“We hope our children will learn education and be expert in taking higher education, which is very crucial for us,” the prime minister said. The prime minister said multi media classes were so far been set up in more than 23,500 schools in addition to 30,000 labs. She laid importance on setting up of at least one multi-media classroom in each school and urged the former students and well-off people to help the educational institutions to furnish the multi-media classes.
She said introduction of Bangla key board in the mobile phone apps are immensely helping educating people to operate mobile phones as well as acquire literacy knowledge. UITRCEs would be most beautiful building in every Upazila headquarters equipped with all required facilities including server room, ICT lab and local cyber centre for ITC training programmes for teachers and deliver information technology services to the students and common people, said education minister Nurul Islam Nahid.
In the second phase 160 UITRCEs would be constructed while rest of the centres would be completed in the third and final phase, he said.
