Bangladesh aims to scale up climate-resilient education initiatives, including boat-based schools, to improve learning access for children in remote and climate-vulnerable regions through government and development-sector collaboration.
Bangladesh is interested in scaling up innovative education initiatives developed by non-governmental and development organisations across the country, with a particular focus on ensuring learning opportunities for children in climate-vulnerable and hard-to-reach areas, Primary and Mass Education Adviser Bobby Hajjaj said on Wednesday.
Speaking as chief guest at the UNESCO Confucius Literacy Prize 2025 award ceremony at a hotel in the capital, Hajjaj said the government is keen to support the wider implementation of proven education models so that the benefits of education and skills development can reach every household in the country.
He said successful initiatives, especially those serving children in remote and climate-risk-prone regions, should be expanded on a broader scale as part of efforts to make education more accessible nationwide.
Highlighting climate-resilient education systems, Hajjaj placed particular emphasis on floating or boat-based schools, describing them as an effective and tested model for communities affected by geographical and climate-related challenges.
Addressing non-governmental organisations, he said they had been successfully operating boat-based education programmes for many years and that the next step was to work together on extending the model to other regions facing similar conditions.
“Now the need is to explore how this experience can be expanded to other comparable areas of the country through joint efforts,” he said.
Hajjaj said every initiative carried importance, but noted that successful implementation and reaching a larger population were even more critical than simply launching new programmes.
He added that the government was willing to provide both policy-level and practical support to help expand successful education initiatives at the national level in the coming years.
The adviser also thanked UNESCO for its continued support to Bangladesh’s education sector and expressed hope that the cooperation would continue in the future.
He further congratulated local non-governmental development organisation Sidulai Swanirvar Sangstha on receiving the UNESCO Confucius Literacy Prize.
Among others attending the event were Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) Executive Director Rasheda K. Choudhury, Bureau of Non-Formal Education Director General Debabrata Chakrabarty and UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh Susan Vize.
