Dhaka: Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Friday urged psychologists to identify the applied areas of psychology as those they can play an important role in the country's development.

"That's why psychologists should come forward to identify the applied areas of psychology. Initiatives must be taken to build necessary manpower in this regard," he told a seminar in the capital.

Bangladesh Psychological Association (BPA) arranged the seminar on 'the problems of psychology education programme at high secondary education level and its way forward' at Dhaka Teachers' Training College auditorium.

Nahid said psychology can play an important role for the overall growth of a human and prosperity of a society.

"We have no enough skilled and efficient manpower in this field and we have also resource constraints. So, once the government gets specific and realistic proposals from this field, we will consider it," he said.

The Education Minister said psychologists can also play an important role to ensure the mental growth of children, including the autistic ones, and address their mental disorders.

Chaired by BPA president Prof Dr Mahmudur Rahman, the seminar was addressed among others, by Water Resources senior secretary Dr Zafar Ahmed Khan, Secondary and Higher Education Division Secretary of the education ministry Md Sohrab Hossain, director general of Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) Dr SM Wahiduzzman and chairman of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board Prof Narayan Chandra Saha.