Compulsory Primary Education
Primary education is the foremost and basic right of every child. The meaning of compulsory primary education is that all the children up to the age of 10 must complete their education up to the level of class V. Primary Education is the minimum training that creates the proper condition of life. Its purpose is to impart knowledge of reading, writing, and simple Arithmetic. In developed countries, everybody is conscious of the importance of compulsory primary education.
Illiteracy is a curse. It is the root cause of poverty. No development program can attain success due to illiteracy. On the other hand, education is the backbone of a nation. It removes darkness and enlightens the mind. It develops mental and moral faculties of the human being. The main objective of primary education is to bring awareness among the children, opens avenues of opportunities along with self-development, and reduces inter-generational poverty. Proper education makes a man realize his ultimate aim in life. It helps a man enjoy a fuller and longer life. It also shows how malnutrition, hunger, and disease can be overcome. Therefore, universal primary education has become a vital national issue.
Bangladesh is beset with many problems. So it is very difficult to educate all the people within a short time. Primary education is the incubator for the next generation of leaders, thinkers, and innovators. A large portion of the children has not yet got the opportunity to go to primary schools. There are about 44000 primary schools in our country which are not sufficient to provide accommodation for all the children. By the year 2000, about 24000 new schools primary will be required for providing accommodation to all the children. Moreover, poor and illiterate parents do not realize the importance of education. On the other hand, most of the people in our country are not conscious of compulsory primary education. They engage their children in different work to earn money to support their families. If we are not conscious of this importance, all the developments of Bangladesh will obstruct it. Considering all these problems, primary education should be made free and compulsory.
In order to make the compulsory free primary education program successful, we have to eradicate the problems that stand in the way of it. As it’s importance is too much, all of us have to be more conscious of it. Firstly the parents should be made to realize the importance of education. More schools should be established so that no student is deprived of having primary education. Poor students should be provided with books. Pens, dresses, etc. free of cost. In order to build up good and efficient teachers, training facilities should be arranged.
Primary education is an out-and-out pre-requisite for continuous development. The government of our country has taken some steps to remove illiteracy from society. The year 1992 has started as the year for universal education. The role of primary education is to ensure the development of children. For this purpose one Thana has been selected in every district. All the children between ages 5 to 7 must go to school. They are taught free there. The government has also launched food for an education program to inspire poor parents to send their children to schools. The prosperity and progress of our nation depend upon the complete removal of illiteracy. This means that all children are able to develop their social, cognitive, cultural, emotional, and physical skills according to the best of their abilities. For that implementation of compulsory free primary education has become a crying need. If we are to take a rightful place in the world, we have to bend all our resources and energies to this great purpose without wasting time any more.
