Government Targets 5 Million Participants in Primary Gold Cup

Bangla Press Desk:   Prime Minister's Adviser on Education and Primary and Mass Education Mahdi Amin on Thursday said the government plans to increase participation in the Primary Gold Cup Football Tournament to at least five million students in the coming years, up from the current 2.2 million participants.

Speaking at a press conference at the Secretariat ahead of the tournament's final, he said this year's competition has already seen the participation of more than 1.1 million boys and 1.1 million girls from 65,342 schools across the country.

"The government's goal is to ensure that at least five million students from classes I to V take part in future editions of the tournament," he said.

Mahdi Amin announced that the final of the Primary Gold Cup Football Tournament will be held at the National Army Stadium on 20 June, with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman expected to attend as the chief guest.

He said the government has launched a range of creative and extracurricular initiatives in line with the Prime Minister's vision to promote students' talents beyond the conventional curriculum.

According to him, the football tournament has created a "sports revolution" among primary school students, with participants progressing from village-level competitions through union, upazila, district and divisional rounds before reaching the national stage in Dhaka.

He urged the media to play a greater role in encouraging children's participation in sports by highlighting their achievements and recognising young talents.

The adviser also outlined several planned reforms in the education sector. From the next academic year, two new subjects -- Sports and Culture -- will be introduced for Class IV students.

"We want to build our future generation through a combination of education, culture and sports so that they develop teamwork, discipline and transferable life skills," he said.

Mahdi Amin said the government also plans to introduce two new courses from Class VI, including "Learning with Happiness", aimed at creating a more enjoyable learning environment, and Technical and Vocational Education, which will gradually become accessible to all students through practical training facilities and laboratories. Source: daily Sun

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