Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Friday mentioned that investment in children’s education and health is very important in nation-building.

He made the remark in his message issued on the occasion of the Primary School Gold Cup Football Tournament (Boys and Girls) 2026, scheduled to begin on Saturday.

In his message, the Prime Minister described the football tournament as a positive initiative for the development of students, saying that sports, culture and creative activities are essential alongside their academic education for building a confident, skilled and humane generation.

He said the government is working to modernise the education sector under the “Sobar Agey Bangladesh” election manifesto, including efforts to integrate sports such as football, cricket, chess, karate and swimming into the curriculum from Grade Four to higher secondary level.

The Prime Minister noted that students will participate in sports through practical classes and assessments, helping reduce social problems such as drug addiction and excessive mobile phone use.

He added that under the policy guidelines, 65,569 government primary schools are included in the tournament, involving over 99 lakh students.

A total of 1,23,974 matches have already been held nationwide, making it one of the largest football tournaments in the world.

He wished the tournament a complete success and expressed hope that participants would become future sporting talents representing Bangladesh internationally.