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taka had been embezzled from the trust in the past, creating complications in paying retirement benefits. The new allocation will be used to clear the dues of affected teachers, he added.

The minister also said the education budget for the next fiscal year stands at Tk 1.23 lakh crore, the highest ever. The allocation is equivalent to 2 percent of GDP.

He said the prime minister has assured that education spending will gradually be increased to 5 percent of GDP.

At another programme yesterday, Milon said sports are being included in the curriculum to encourage children to develop an interest in games from an early age.

He was speaking as chief guest at the inauguration of the national round of the Primary School Gold Cup Football Tournament (Boys-Girls) 2026 at National Bangla High School in Mirpur.

State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj, PM’s Education Adviser Mahdi Amin and Shahina Ferdousi, director general of the Directorate of Primary Education, also spoke.

The tournament began at union and municipality levels on April 6, with students from 65,569 government primary schools participating.

In the boys’ category, 11,10,814 players from 65,342 teams are competing, while 11,03,291 players from 65,321 teams are taking part in the girls’ category.