Under the plan, the UK government will enter into a 10-year agreement with Bangladesh to contribute to the further expansion and development of the country's primary education.

'The United Kingdom is committed to supporting Bangladesh to make sure that every boy and every girl completes his or her primary education over the period,' Timms said.

The announcement came at a function at Mirpur Bangla High School in the city, organised to mark the visit of the British cabinet minister.

'We committed $15 billion from the British government to help with the provision of providing primary education across the world over the next 10 years,' he said, adding that some of the money will be flowing to Bangladesh for the improvement of its primary education.

The UK's aid programme will also help Bangladesh to focus on quality education and teachers' training, he told the function.

He hoped that the provision of providing free meals to schools would make a difference to the children and help reduce drop-out rates that hover at 35 per cent.

Timms is now in the city on a three-day official tour intended to cement further the existing bilateral relations between Bangladesh and the United Kingdom.

One way of supporting the development of education systems is by establishing a linkage between a school in the United Kingdom and a school in Bangladesh, said Timms.

The British Global Gateway programme, launched in January this year, is designed to support these links by allowing teachers and students to exchange information and ideas to learn from each other about different cultures, to share problems and develop solutions, he mentioned.

He said his visit reflects the 'deep' and 'longstanding' relations between Bangladesh and the UK.

'We'll be providing extra-funding with the provision of primary education in Bangladesh in accordance with that plan,' he added.

The UK has already pledged 100 million pounds in support of this plan and is now ready to expand its already 'strong partnership' with Bangladesh.

The country's primary education development project, which runs until 2009, has already built 30,000 classrooms and recruited 14,000 teachers.

Among others, Education Minister Dr Osman Farruk, British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury, Country Representative of the DFID David Wood and Senior Education Adviser of DFID Barbara Payne were present at the function.

Osman Farruk underscored the need for ensuring quality education and bridging the gap of quality between rural and urban schools.

In his address, the British High Commissioner said the United Kingdom handed out US$ 250 million in development aid for Bangladesh and the amount would be doubled in the coming years.

Earlier, the British cabinet minister visited Mukul Fouz Primary School at Mirpur.

The Department for International Development (DFID), the British government's official development agency, contributed 32 million pounds to the Brac.