The prime minister, also in charge of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, made the call while addressing the prize distribution and closing ceremony of National Primary Education Week 2006 at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the city.

"This is very regretful to keep the students hostage for realising demands," lamented the prime minister, referring to the strike by the primary schoolteachers.

Ministers, MPs, primary schoolteachers and students and officials of the ministries concerned attended the function.

The prime minister said this is not fair to turn politics and a movement for realiaing demands into barriers to development.

"Have confidence in me. Give us time. I promise you, we'll fulfil all of your rightful demands in phases as per our ability and resources," she told the primary teachers.

The prime minister said: "We need to have much wealth to consume more. We can increase our resources through work, not by stopping work. We have problems, scarcity, sorrow and sufferings. So we've been working relentlessly for development, production, employment and raising our incomes."

She said everybody has to keep in mind the country's resource constraints. Despite resource constraints, the prime minister said, the government has been giving highest allocation to education, as it believes that there is no alternative to education for development.

Later, the prime minister distributed prizes among the best performing primary students, best teachers and best managing committee.

Advisor to the Prime Minister on Primary and Mass Education Prof Jahanara Begum also addressed the function organised by the primary and mass education ministry.

The slogan of this year's Primary Education Week was "Standard Education in Alleviating Poverty".

The prime minister asked the primary schoolteachers to teach the children with affection and love to groom them as worthy citizens.

Listing a number of schemes and steps taken by her government for the development of primary education, the prime minister said the government wants to reach primary education to the doorsteps of all.

She said nearly 60 lakh children are now being benefited with the government-sponsored stipend project under which Tk 100 is given for sending one child to school and Tk 125 for two kids.

The prime minister said Bangladesh has achieved the highest success in South Asia in increasing the rate of enrollment in primary schools and bringing gender equality.

She said this trend of success has to be sustained to ensure education for all by 2015 and a six-year project, involving Tk 5,000 crore, is already under implementation for the development of primary education.

Under this programme, various activities, including appointment of new teachers, training of teachers and officials, enhancing the efficiency of schools, infrastructural development and free supply of textbooks and materials are being implemented, the prime minister said.

In the first phase, appointment of 12,000 teachers has already been completed apart from taking an initiative to recruit 1,000 assistant upazila education officers, she said, adding that 18,000 primary school teachers have been imparted C-in-Ed training while 17,000 are now receiving the training.

A total of 90,000 teachers will get training under the programme.