Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) on Sunday awarded scholarship to 3,019 students for their brilliant academic achievement in higher secondary and equivalent examinations in 2017.
Finance minister Abul Maal A Muhith distributed the scholarship awarding letters to some of the students as the chief guest at a ceremony, held at the city's Shaheed Surhawardy Indoor Stadium.
Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Anisul Huq, Governor of Bangladesh Bank Fazle Kabir, Chairman of Board of Directors of the DBBL Sayem Ahmed, Managing Director of the bank Abul Kashem Md Shirin and chairman of the DBBL Trust Shahabuddin Ahmed attended the programme, among others.
In his speech, Mr Muhith congratulated the students for being selected for the scholarship and thanked the DBBL officials for their devotion to education.
Addressing the scholarship recipients, he said human being is the best creation of God, however the recognition is to be justified by an individual's good deeds and knowledge acquiring.
"You have proved your brainpowers so far through the scholarship. Remember, you need to sustain your achievement and dedicate yourself for the betterment of others in the society," said the finance minister.
Recollecting personal memory of getting scholarship in student life, the finance minister said he was awarded scholarship for last 8 years out of total 16-17 years of his academic life.
"Initially I got Tk 3.0 per month as scholarship, which was gradually increased to Tk 40," he said.
He also said the amount to be paid by the DBBL to the students is enough for maintaining the education expenses. The selected students will get monthly scholarship of Tk 2,500 for 4-5 academic years. They will also get annual grant of Tk 5,000 for buying reading materials and TK 1,000 for buying clothes. According to the DBBL, a total of 50,679 students got the DBBL scholarship so far. Of them, 21,187 are still receiving the financial aid studying at various universities and colleges.
In his speech, Bangladesh Bank Governor Fazle Kabir praised the DBBL for its pioneering role in giving scholarships for the students.
"For achieving Bangladesh's development goals like becoming a developed country by 2041 and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), quality education has no alternative," he said.
Admiring the DBBL's role, he urged every other private organisations to play their valuable roles in ensuring quality education.
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