Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday handed over the prestigious Unesco International Literacy Prizes to seven recipients this year.

This is the first time Bangladesh hosted the programme which usually takes place in Paris every year marking International Literacy Day on September 8.

This year, Unesco awarded seven persons and institutions worldwide for contributions to literacy and education.

The prize recipients are President of Association for the Promotion of Non-Formal Education of Burkina Faso Anatole T Niameogo; Education Minister of Ecuador Augusto Espinosa; President of Algerian Association of Alphabetization (IQRRA) Aicha Barki; Director of the Permanent Education Center Poligono Sur Seville, Spain Ana Garcia Reina; Deputy Director of the Permanent Education Center Poligono Sur Seville, Spain Isabel

Dealbert; Chief Executive Officer of Molteno Institute for Language and Literacy and International Literacy Institute, South Africa Masennya Dikotla; and Director of Molteno Institute for Language and Literacy and International Literacy Institute Dan A Wagner.

The government in partnership with Unesco and in support of the UN Secretary General's Global Education First Initiative organised the event at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital. Around 60 delegates, including representatives of international NGOs from 27 countries, participated in a daylong international conference on "Girls' and women's literacy and education: Foundations for sustainable development."

Meanwhile, the government has prepared a list of 144,000 male students for providing them with stipends from the Prime Minister's Education Assistance Trust Fund like female students.

"We've prepared the list, we'll provide

stipends to 144,000 male students from the Trust Fund in the future," announced Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the inaugural ceremony of the conference.

The government formed the fund last year with Tk 1,000 crore as seed money to help the poor but meritorious students. Initially, female students were given stipends from the fund.

"We’ve already started giving stipends to female students and so far 129,510 received the stipends," she said.

Hasina also said the list of the male students has been prepared and they will start receiving the stipends in the coming days. "The stipends will be given for continuing education up to degree level," she added.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the event got recognition from the Unesco for her "tireless efforts to promote female education in Bangladesh.”

Unesco Director General Irina Bokova presented a memento titled, "PeaceTree", to the prime minister in this regard.