Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday urged the university authorities to generate new knowledge to foster economic progress in the country, reports BSS. “New generation must be prepared with modern education alongside developing high moral values and sense of patriotism to build a prosperous country,” he told the 6th convocation of University of Development Alternative (UDA) at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the capital, an official release said.

Chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC) Prof Abdul Mannan, former Vice-chancellor of Dhaka University Dr Emaj Uddin Ahmed and Vice-chancellor of UDA Prof Dr Rafiqul Islam Sharif, among others, addressed the convocation.

Nahid said “The main objective of our education is to prepare our generation to build a modern Bangladesh. A university is not meant for merely collecting certificates based on prescribed curriculum.”

It (university) must create an environment to nurture students to develop their fullest potential and capacities as human beings in diverse areas of knowledge, which will help students to fit in any situation in their life, he added.

Nahid said, “We always encourage collaboration with different public and private bodies to build effective partnership to accomplish the journey of quality education.”

He said despite a number of challenges, Bangladesh has some remarkable and praiseworthy achievements in the education sector.

“Distribution of free textbook among the students of primary and secondary levels, increased enrolment rate and eradicating gender inequality in primary and secondary education have already been acknowledged in different international forums,” the minister added.z