Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has emphasised die need to provide general and vocational education for Madrasa students alongside religious education to ensure more employment opportunities for them.

"We want to introduce vocational education at every level of the education system to bring up a skilled population," she said while addressing the opening ceremony of the International Literacy Day 2009 at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium yesterday.

Hasina in her address urged every educated citizen of the country to impart literacy to at least one child.

"I believe, through such process, illiteracy will be removed from the country."

She said developing countries like Bangladesh should enlighten its every citizen with education through all-out coordinated efforts.

But, Bangladesh could not attain stable and desired development in all sectors, including education, as democracy in the country could not proceed uninterrupted.

"The hope is still alive as efforts are on," Hasina said.

The PM observed that the present government has taken

the charge of the country with scores of problems "created due to misrule in the last seven years."

That is why the government has to give special attention to every sector to put things straight.

"We have set our target to advance our primary education sector fast. We have already brought equity in the salary structure of primary schoolteachers.

“Apart from continuing'the previous programmes, the present government has taken up new initiatives to raise the literacy rate in the country," the PM told her audience.

She asked the local administration and people's representatives to work hard to expedite government's primary’ education programmes.

Hasina deplored that the previous Awami League government through its concerted efforts had increased the country's literacy rate up to 65.5 percent.

But, because of the next governments, the rate presently came down to 53 percent in a digression.

The PM informed the function that the present government wants to fully remove illiteracy by 2014 and ensure admission of every child to schools by 2011.

"We all have to come for-

ward unitedly to get to these goals," she said.

Hasina mentioned the government's initiative to update the country's education policy through the reforms' recommended by a national committee of expert academics.

The draft education policy has already been submitted to her, and following her order, it has been placed on the education ministry's website, she said.

The PM said supplementary education programmes of the government for bringing the dropped out children back into the mainstream education flow are being implemented.

She said already second National Plan of Action has been formulated and Education Project-2 is being implemented to keep the attained literacy rate advancing and expediting skill based training activities.

Besides, Hard to Reach project's second phase and Reaching Out of School Children are being implemented to bring the urban labourers' children under the literacy programmes and to ensure education for disadvan-taged children.

Hasina noted that there is no alternative to education for making human lives truly enlightened and meaningful

and that's why modern state and society is relentlessly trying to educate its total population.

The PM emphasised creating massive public awareness, fixing future action plan and timely implementation of programmes to ensure literacy of every individual.

"Literacy is the first stair of education. An educated population is the driving force of a country," she said.

Realising the importance of education, she said, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujlbur Rahman had nationalised primary schools and jobs of the primary teachers.

"But, had Bangabandhu not been killed in 1975, Bangladesh's overall situation, including its literacy rate, would not be in such a bad condition," the PM said.

"Now we are strongly determined to complete the unfinished task of the Father of the Nation. It is our duty to give literacy to every citizens and educate them with vocational education," Hasina said.

Primary and Mass Education Minister M Afsarul Amin chaired the function, addressed, among others, by State Minister for Primary Education Md Motahar Hossain and acting secretary BadrulAlamTarafder.