Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury told parliament today that the government intends to provide tuition-free schooling up to eighth grade in an effort to ensure equal access to education for children from all socioeconomic backgrounds.

The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education is already working toward this end, and the plan will be implemented at a convenient time, the minister said in response to a question from Chattogram-11 MP M Abdul Latif.

In response to a question from reserved seat MP Farida Yasmin, the minister informed parliament that there are vacancies in vice-chancellor (VC) positions at 29 private universities across the country.

"There are 114 private universities authorised to operate in the country, with 105 of them currently holding classes. Among these universities, there are vacancies in the positions for vice-chancellors (29), pro-vice chancellors (80), and treasurers (35)," Mohibul said.

In response to another question from MP Abdul Latif, the minister said a total of 4,613 educational institutions are currently not under the coverage of Monthly Payment Order (MPO).

Responding to Opposition Whip Mujibul Haque, the minister said that an agreement had been reached with BUET's ICT institute to identify fake Bangladesh Technical Education Board certificates and that the process was already being carried out by institute experts.

"Upon detection, all forged certificates will be revoked, and any additional measures deemed necessary will be taken based on the information provided by the certificate holders."

In response to MP Pankaj Nath, State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Rumana Ali said the country has 944 primary schools with fewer than 50 students.

Meanwhile, the House was also informed by Social Welfare Minister Dipu Moni that the government has implemented a plan to compile a national database of beggars. "By giving genuine beggars various forms of training and counselling and by using accurate statistics, begging will be eliminated."

According to Dipu Moni, there are no reliable statistics on the number of homeless individuals who are dependent on others for their livelihood in Dhaka.

River erosion, extreme poverty, illness, illiteracy, and other issues are forcing some people who truly need help to turn to begging. However, the minister added that some unemployed people decide to beg as a quick way to make money as well.