ECNEC approves Tk 41,090 crore PEDP-5 for primary education, to run until 2031

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved the Fifth Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP-5), worth Tk 41,090 crore, to improve the quality of primary education. The programme was among 13 projects approved at a meeting held at the Secretariat on Wednesday (4 November), chaired by Prime Minister and ECNEC Chairperson Tarique Rahman.

This single programme accounts for more than 70 percent of the total cost of the projects approved on the day. A Planning Ministry press release put the total cost of the 13 projects at Tk 58,088 crore 92 lakh. Of the approved projects, 11 are new and two are revised. It was the sixth ECNEC meeting of the current 2026-27 fiscal year and the eleventh of the present government.

PEDP-5 will be implemented by the Directorate of Primary Education. For the five-year programme running from July this year to June 2031, the government will provide Tk 33,203 crore 23 lakh, while the remaining Tk 7,887 crore 25 lakh will come from loans by development partners. About 99 percent of the total project loans approved on the day are for this programme.

The Fourth Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP-4), which began in 2018, cost Tk 32,803 crore. The fifth programme costs about 25 percent more in comparison. Sector-based programmes of this kind have been taken up in phases for the development of primary education since 1997.

According to the ministry, of the total cost of the 13 projects, Tk 50,041 crore 20 lakh will come from government funds and Tk 7,974 crore 65 lakh from project loans, which is less than 14 percent of the total. The implementing agencies will provide Tk 250 crore 67 lakh from their own funds.