Jamaat promises to establish ‘world’s largest women’s university’

Jamaat has promised to implement comprehensive reforms in the country’s education, health, employment, social security and economic sectors if it wins the 13th parliamentary elections and forms the government.

Among those, the party has announced to establish ‘world’s largest women’s university’ by merging Government Eden Women’s College, Begum Badrunnesa Government Women’s College and Home Economics College.

At the ‘Policy Summit 2026’ organized at a hotel in Dhaka on Tuesday (January 20), the party’s Ameer Dr. Shafiqur Rahman presented Jamaat’s election promise to ambassadors of various countries, top leaders of political parties, intellectuals, media editors, journalist leaders, researchers and professionals.

In his inaugural speech at the summit held from 9 am at the ballroom of the capital’s Hotel Intercontinental, the Jamaat Ameer said that to make the education system modern and inclusive, the major colleges under the National University will be converted into universities in phases. All types of recruitment will be merit-based.

Highlighting the plans in the education sector, Shafiqur Rahman said that every year 100 students will be given interest-free educational loans to study in the best universities in the world, so that talented children from poor families will also get the opportunity to study in institutions like Harvard, MIT, Oxford and Cambridge.

As part of the election promise, the Jamaat Ameer said that after graduation, interest-free loans (Karje Hasana) of up to Tk10,000 per month will be given to 500,000 youths for a maximum of two years until they get a job. At the same time, he also announced the provision of interest-free educational loans of up to Tk10,000 per month for 100,000 students based on merit and need.

Referring to the plans in the health sector, Shafiqur Rahman said that free healthcare will be ensured for citizens above 60 years of age and children below five years of age. He also promised to establish 64 specialized hospitals in 64 districts of the country.

He further said that under the 'First Thousand Days Programme', maternal and child nutrition and primary healthcare will be brought under the ambit of social security from the time of conception until the child is two years old.

Regarding the economic plan, the Jamaat Ameer said that if it comes to power, a 'zero tolerance' policy will be adopted against corruption. The goal has been set to reduce tax and VAT rates step by step to 19 percent and VAT to 10 percent in the long term.

He said that a 'smart social security card' will be introduced by integrating NID, TIN, health and social services. He also promised that gas, electricity and water charges will not be increased in the industrial sector in the next three years.

Regarding the reopening of closed factories, Shafiqur Rahman said that these factories will be opened through public-private partnership and 10 percent ownership will be given to the workers. He also mentioned the provision of interest-free loans for farmers.

Regarding the employment of the youth, the Jamaat Ameer said that a new ministry will be formed for ‘skilled manpower and job placement’. In five years, one crore youth will be trained in market-based skills. He said that 5 million employment opportunities will be created in five years by establishing ‘Youth Tech Lab’ for graduates in every upazila and ‘District Job Youth Bank’ in every district.

According to the Jamaat’s publicity department, ambassadors and representatives of international organizations including the United States, United Kingdom, China, India, Pakistan, Turkey, Malaysia, Australia, Canada, Japan, European Union, UN and UNDP were present at the summit.

The Daily Star editor Mahfuz Anam, CPD fellow Debapriya Bhattacharya, former teacher of Jahangirnagar University Dilara Chowdhury were also present at the event. Among the top leaders of Jamaat, the Nayeb-e-Ameer, Secretary General and members of the Central Executive Council also participated in the event.