Students Must Progress in Education Alongside Sports: Prime Minister

Photo: Collected

News Desk: Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said that 2.2 million boys and girls participated in 123,000 events during the last one and a half months of the Gold Cup tournament. He urged the organizers to contact the Guinness World Records authorities so that these achievements could be included in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Addressing the young participants, he said, “My dear children, you cannot focus only on playing. I know many of you can sing well and recite the Quran. You are the future of Bangladesh. Therefore, you have to become skilled in every field. Only when you become capable in all areas will it be possible to build a beautiful and strong Bangladesh.”

Speaking to the students present at the event, Tarique Rahman asked how many of them had the confidence to become capable of leading the country successfully in the future. Referring to the ongoing World Cup, he said, “Ronaldo is playing well, Messi is playing, Mbappé is playing. You also have to become great athletes like them. We have already made plans so that Bangladesh can achieve better results in the Olympics.”

He said Bangladesh must move forward through sports. “The world knows Bangladesh through cricket. In the future, Inshallah, people will know us not only through cricket but also through football, hockey, swimming, and tennis. You will become ambassadors of Bangladesh across the world. You have to take Bangladesh forward and build the country. You will be able to build an even better country than we have,” he said.

The Prime Minister emphasized that students must continue their studies while also maintaining their involvement in sports. “From now on, you have to focus on education, but you must not give up sports. Everyone should participate in the sport they like. You have to continue practicing sports and try to innovate,” he said.

He congratulated not only the winners but also everyone involved in organizing the tournament. He also expressed gratitude to school teachers and parents for their support.

Addressing the students, Tarique Rahman said, “You cannot stop playing. We will take all necessary steps to help you grow into confident individuals. You do not need to worry about anything. You have to become skilled in every area.”

He also announced that an innovation event would be organized at Chinmoytri in Dhaka in the near future, where children of their age would participate.

The Prime Minister said, “We have to build Bangladesh as a strong and famous country. You have to do this because this is your future, this is your Bangladesh. We will work, we will build the country — Bangladesh first.”

At the event, speeches were also delivered by Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, Education State Minister Bobby Hajjaj, Information State Minister Yaser Khan Chowdhury, Prime Minister’s Adviser on Education and Primary & Mass Education Mahdi Amin, Pabna-1 MP Nazibur Rahman, Mymensingh-7 MP Dr. Md. Mahbubur Rahman Liton, Barishal-6 MP Abul Hossain Khan, among others.

After his speech, the Prime Minister distributed cash prizes and medals among the champion teams, runners-up teams, best players, and highest goal scorers. Referees were also awarded.

The largest sports event in the country’s primary education sector began on April 6. More than 1.1 million male students and 1.1 million female students from 65,342 government primary schools across the country participated in the competition.

Starting from village-level competitions, the tournament progressed through union, upazila, district, and divisional levels, after which four teams qualified for the national-level final.

Prime Minister’s Adviser Mahdi Amin said that the goal of the tournament, organized to promote sports culture and develop talent among primary-level students, is to increase future participation to 5 million students.