A brilliant student is like a candle, one candle can light a thousand candles. A student is like a lighted candle for the country, said Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Minister Bir Bahadur Ushwe Singh. The minister said this at the 32nd meritorious scholarship awarding ceremony by Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board at Arun Sarki Town Hall on Tuesday morning.
The minister also said that once Bandarban was neglected. The district had no roads, bridges, culverts, schools, colleges, hospitals and medical services. There were no schools in Ruma and Thanchi upazilas then. But now there are many schools in the district. Such development should have happened 40 years ago, but did not happen. Because the leadership of the feudal class at that time did not develop Bandarban on purpose. After the current Awami League government came to power, unprecedented development has been achieved in the Bandarban hill district. Now there are examination centers, there was only one college in Bandarban district, now there are colleges in 7 upazilas, there are 14 colleges in Bandarban district. 218 primary schools run by UNDP are now nationalized with teachers.
Communication system has improved in seven upazilas. There will be a technical college in every upazila, he said.
He also said that grid electricity has been delivered to seven upazilas, solar panel electricity has been provided to remote areas where there is no electricity. The current Awami League government has created an opportunity to study in remote areas even in the dark under the light of solar panels. So children should be well educated in education. He mentioned that these students will lead the country and nation building in the future.
He called upon the students to play a leading role in building a smart Bangladesh by 2041 by considering education as an investment in the future.
In the 32nd meritorious student scholarship ceremony of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board in Bandarban district, a total of 725 students from Bandarban district, 203 students from college level and 425 students from university level were given 63 lakh 41 thousand taka scholarships. From the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board in the fiscal year 2021-2022, 920 people at the college level and 1273 people at the university level in the three hill districts of Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachari will be given educational scholarships of about 2 crore Tk. It should be noted that the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board provides scholarships to meritorious students studying in various colleges and universities in the three hill districts every year. So far, Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board has given 22 million taka merit scholarships to 23 thousand students in three hill districts.
Chittagong Hill Development Board member Jasim Uddin, Additional Deputy Commissioner Fazlur Rahman, Additional Superintendent of Police Shah Alam, Meusai Marma, a student of Bandarban University, Bandarban Government College student Tariqul Islam and others also spoke in the chairmanship of Chittagong Hill Development Board Vice Chairman Nurul Alam Chowdhury. Bandarban Government Women's College Principal Pradeep Barua, Bandarban Government College Principal Professor Nurul Abshar Chowdhury, Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board Bandarban Unit Executive Engineer Abu Bin Mohammad Yashir Arafat and many others were present on the occasion.