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"We have to regard these people as the active agent of the social change. Project-based activities will not yield the expected results," she observed.
Shaheen Anam, executive director of Manusher Jonno Foundation, observed that 40 percent of the country's annual development programme remains unutilised. "Is there any problem if the government diverts unutilised funds to the challenged population?" she asked.
Nawazish Ali Khan, adviser of ATN Bangla, said: "We have to engage the private sector so that they create jobs for them."
Farida Yesmin, executive director of Disabled Rehabilitation and Research Association, Bangladesh, said the issue of the physically challenged in Bangladesh is seen as relief-based approach, not as empowerment approach.
"If it continues, the physically challenged will never have their dignity in the society."
In his welcome speech, Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, said his newspaper is committed to highlighting both problems and achievements of the physically challenged people and how their dignity in the society can be ensured.
Anila Hossain, a wheelchair-bound student of Standard V who came to the programme with her father, described how she is treated at school. "Parents say if I go to the school other students will face problem. Don't I have a right to education?" she asked.
Speaking as the chief guest, Social Welfare Minister Enamul Hoque Mostofa Shaheed said mobile banking could be used to take the allowance to the people and help them avoid harassment.
He said the government is spending heavily for the education sector through the budgetary allocation. "Still we do not see ramp in the buildings."
Ruling Awami League lawmaker Zunaid Ahmed Palak said the challenged people face harassment in getting allowance from the government. "They even have to give bribe to get the allowances."
He said the challenged people should be given identification cards so that they can receive allowances directly from the government.
Rashed Khan Menon, president of parliamentary standing committee on education, agreed to the suggestion that education of the physically challenged population has to be brought under the authority of the education ministry.
Rasheda K Chowdhury, former adviser to a caretaker government, said increasing budgetary allocation for the disabled is not the only solution. "There has to be proper monitoring so that the budget is spent for the intended purpose and benefits reach the real beneficiaries."
Ranjit Kumar Biswas, secretary of the social welfare ministry, Brig Gen (retd) Shahedul Anam Khan, editor, defence and strategic affairs of The Daily Star, and Dr MA Muhit, pro-vice-chancellor of University of South Asia, also spoke

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The government should take up long-term planning to solve problems of the country's millions of physically challenged people instead of relying on relief-based approaches, development activists said yesterday.
They said the charity-based approaches and projects don't yield the desired results as they leave out a large part of the physically challenged population who need it most.
The observations came at a roundtable styled "Disability Inclusive National Budget 2012-13" held at the conference room of The Daily Star in Dhaka.
ADD International, a UK-based development agency, and The Daily Star jointly organised the programme in association with Manusher Jonno Foundation and Shiree.
This was the second consecutive time the duo organised a roundtable to draw attention of the policymakers to the plights of the country's more than 1.45 crore physically challenged people.
During his keynote presentation, Mosharraf Hossain, country director of ADD International, said the social welfare ministry took up a number of projects in the last few years targeting some special needs of the challenged people.
"Budgetary allocation for them has also increased, but development of them is still not the mainstream development," he said.
Over 9 percent of the population is physically challenged, according to the 2010 Household Expenditure Survey. However, less than 0.5 percent of the development budget has been allocated for them in the last three fiscal years.
In the upcoming budget for 2012-13, grassroots organisations for the physically challenged people have demanded an increase in the allowances for the economically insolvent ones and rise in the number of the beneficiaries.
Hossain said they also urged the government to ensure ramp in all government buildings, introduce rationing for the insolvent challenged people and pass law for their rights and also ensure its implementation.
Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, chairman of Palli Karma Sahayak Foundation, said the government should pass the law without any delay. "If we want to do something for them, we need laws."
He said the ministries of education and primary and mass education should take the responsibility of educating the challenged people.
"Mere projects will not be able to bring any changes to their lives. We need comprehensive planning. They should be given priority, and there should also be monitoring."
Sadeka Halim, information commissioner, said the issue of the challenged population has so far been seen from welfare approach. "As long as we see them as beneficiaries and in passive role, there won't be any major changes.

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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the country had made good progress in its efforts towards building 'Digital Bangladesh' during the last three years as pledged in the ruling party's election manifesto.
“We've achieved many successes to this end,” she said, while inaugurating through videoconferencing from her office the multimedia classrooms and digital academic contents developed by teachers.
Hasina said the education system had made a step forward towards the digitalisation goal with the inauguration of 1,000 multimedia secondary and primary school classrooms across the country.
The premier opened the multimedia classrooms in 1,000 schools and the teacher-led contents by pressing a computer button.
She expressed the hope that 'Digital Bangladesh' could be built much ahead of 2021 if the present trend of digitalisation continues.
Hasina said, “Only the information technology can quickly reach the multipurpose flow of development to the grassroots level at a minimum cost.”
“ICT can connect rural people not only with upazila and district headquarters but also with the entire globe,” she added.
She said multimedia classroom was the digital version of teaching method, which was widely used in the developed world. The government was attaching priority to ICT education and all books up to secondary level had been transformed into e-books which were also helping the expatriate students, she added.
She said the teachers were the main medium of reaching knowledge to the learners and they were playing an important role in building an educated nation with digital knowledge.
Hasina called upon the private sector to come forward so that multimedia classrooms could be established in all educational institutions of the country very fast.
She asked the teachers to get habituated with the use of ICT and learn the techniques of developing colourful academic contents and build the future generation enriched with science and technology-based education.
Hasina called upon the teachers, students, guardians and ICT experts to work unitedly to build a hunger- and poverty-free prosperous Digital Bangladesh and thus materialise the dream of Bangabandhu.
Terming the teachers and students the pioneers of the country's advancement, she said the government would establish digital classrooms -- at least one in 20,500 secondary schools and madrasas each - by next year.
“It'll help raise the standard of education to international level and remove the discrimination of teaching methods between rural and urban areas as the students could acquire latest knowledge of the world on various subjects to build themselves as worthy and skilled human resources to survive in the global competition,” she added.
The premier said her government had already introduced e-governance, e-commerce e-health, e-education, and e-service, and the scope of these services are expanding day by day.
Later, she exchanged views with the students of Reazuddin Pilot High School of Debidwar, Comilla, Monirampur Government Girls' School, Jessore, and Tungipara GT Model High School of Gopalganj districts, and the teachers of Rangpur Teachers Training College.
Presided over by Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr Afsarul Amin, the function was also addressed by National Project Director of Access to Information Programme NI Khan and Group CEO of Orascom Telecom Ahmed Abu Doma.

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Hasina said there was no alternative to making the full use of information technology to make Bangladesh a medium income country by 2021. "I'm also an old person. I learnt using information technology from my son," she said.

Financial

Education is the most related with economy

Many of the challenges we face in the region revolve around helping the people of Chittagong Hill tracts to educate themselves and their children. Another goal behind these efforts is to support local entrepreneurs’ development of their economic potential.
Micro financing plays a key role in this effort. Moreover, by facilitating the development of local businesses we also in turn support the capacity to sustain educational institutions and promote basic human rights. This exemplifies our idea of the indivisibility of human rights.

Thinking

We believe that educational institutions are essential to a community’s development, because it enables the community to ask itself vital questions and hands it the tools to answer them.

Such an economically independent society does not rely on international support, which in turn engenders the empowerment of individuals and communities. This path enables traditionally deprived and marginalized peoples to take control of their lives and exercise their right to a life of dignity.

Stipend

We give stipend to talent students
1.Class one (first,second and third)
2.Class two (first,second and third)
3.Class three (first,second and third)
4.Class four (first,second and third)
5.Class five (first,second and third)