The government has approved a Tk203.87 crore proposal to procure education services through UNICEF to improve pre-primary and primary education for Rohingya children living in Cox’s Bazar, Bandarban and Bhasan Char in Noakhali.

The approval was given at a meeting of the Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase held at the Secretariat on 3 February, following a proposal submitted by the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education.

According to UNB, the programme aims to provide structured education in the Myanmar language to forcibly displaced children, enabling them to gain basic skills through mother-tongue instruction.

The project will be implemented under the SD-4 package of the “ISO Component-One: Pre-Primary and Primary Education Improvement Project,” with funding jointly provided by the Government of Bangladesh and a World Bank grant.

UNICEF was engaged through a single-source procurement method in line with World Bank grant conditions. The total project cost stands at $18.45 million, which will be directly disbursed to UNICEF by the World Bank.

Under the initiative, 256,490 Rohingya students will receive education support, while nearly 7,800 volunteer teachers will be recruited in phases and provided honorariums under the project framework.

BOB Post