Ministry of Primary and Mass Education

ministry · verified (verified 2026-05-17)

Profile

Head: A. N. M. Ehsanul Hoque Milan
Role: Minister
Annual budget: ৳354,030,000,000
Staff: 376489
Established: 1992
Legal basis: Constitution of Bangladesh, Article 17 (free and compulsory education); Primary Education (Compulsory) Act 1990; Rules of Business 1996

MoPME is preparing the transition from PEDP4 (ends June 2026) to PEDP5 (Tk 51,000 crore, July 2026-2031), has completed the 14,385-teacher recruitment cycle, and is managing a rising primary dropout rate (16.25% in 2024) through the newly approved school feeding programme and ongoing PESP stipend disbursements to 13 million students.

Recent activity

2026-03-04 reform CAMPE delegation met Minister Milan and MoPME Secretary to present evidence-based recommendations on the 12-point Education Reform Agenda covering primary and mass education. ↗
2026-02-17 appointment A. N. M. Ehsanul Hoque Milan (BNP, Chandpur-1) sworn in as Minister for Primary and Mass Education in the new BNP-led government. ↗↗
2026-02-01 policy DPE completed final selection of 14,385 primary assistant teachers following written exam (Jan 9, 2026, 1.08 million applicants across 61 districts) and viva (Jan 28-Feb 3, 2026); recruitment conducted under Government Primary School Teacher Recruitment Rules 2025. ↗↗
2026-01-01 policy 2026 academic year launched at 118,607 primary schools with approximately 20.5 million students; NCTB introduced revised assessment structure for Grades 1-5 with written and oral examinations and updated mark distributions, while keeping the substantive 2013-framework curriculum unchanged. ↗↗
2025-11-03 circular MoPME issued 2026 primary school admission circular; admission process made fully digital and lottery-based with no admission tests required. ↗
2025-11-08 regulation DPE opened applications for 14,385 primary assistant teacher vacancies under the new Government Primary School Teacher Recruitment Rules 2025; 1.08 million candidates applied by close on November 27, 2025. ↗↗
2025-03-23 budget ECNEC, chaired by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, approved a Tk 5,452.42 crore school feeding programme for government primary schools to address student malnutrition and arrest rising dropout rates. ↗↗

Provenance & notes

Staff count (376,489) is the number of sanctioned primary teacher posts cited in the PEDP5 context as the total nationwide teacher workforce targeted for English-language training (TBS, DPE); this includes head teachers (65,502 grade-10 posts per Dhaka Tribune April 2026) and assistant teachers. Budget figure Tk 354.03 billion is MoPME's own grant allocation for FY 2025-26 per MOF budget documents and Prothom Alo reporting, distinct from the broader 'education sector' Tk 956.45 billion envelope. Established year 1992 per registry seed (the ministry was separated from the unified Ministry of Education in 1992). Current minister holds dual portfolio covering both primary/mass education and the Ministry of Education per Wikipedia and BSS reporting; the registry seed separates the two ministries at the entity level. PEDP4 closes June 2026; PEDP5 preparation notice published by DPE. Dropout rate 16.25% (2024) sourced from DPE Annual Primary School Statistics 2024 official report.

Ministry of Primary and Mass Education

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