100pc literacy far away

The government has not yet come up with a well-crafted plan to reduce illiteracy, though the ruling Awami League ahead of the 2008 national polls pledged to ensure 100 percent literacy by this year.

None of the authorities concerned could tell the approximate literacy rate at present. According to the latest available estimates by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 59.82 percent of the population in 2010 was literate, meaning they could communicate through letters, as defined by BBS. 

After assuming office in January 2009, the Awami League-led government in the last five years could not implement any new project aiming at reducing illiteracy.

It framed the National Education Policy 2010, focusing on its electoral pledge. But there was hardly any follow-up action. 

The Bureau of Non-formal Education (BNFE) prepared to launch two mega projects involving around Tk 3,000 crore at the beginning of 2010. But due to a fund crisis it had to shelve the projects designed to provide basic and skill-based education to people who never enrolled in schools or dropped out, said sources in BNFE.

Basic Literacy, a Tk 483-crore project, has recently been taken up to impart literacy to 45 lakh people aged between 15 and 45 years in 64 districts.

"The project is at the preparatory stage and will be operational from June next year. We hope that it will be a milestone in removing illiteracy," said Zahir Uddin Ahmed ndc, director general of BNFE that will implement the project.

Against this backdrop, the country observes International Literacy Day today through events on the theme, "Literacy and sustainable development".

Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman at a press conference yesterday claimed that the literacy rate had risen to around 65 percent and that some 2.5 crore people were now illiterate in Bangladesh.

He, however, could not explain how he had come up with the estimation.

BNFE Director General Zahir, however, said the BBS estimate could be used as the yardstick. 

Now neither the primary and mass education ministry nor BNFE has any framework to ensure 100 percent literacy.

Since 1991, when democracy was restored in the country, successive governments have implemented a number of projects at an estimated cost of over Tk 2,000 crore in collaboration with development partners but failed to bring about significant results.

More than 40 percent people, aged 15 years and above, are still illiterate.

According to Education For All Progress Report Bangladesh-2012, at least seven projects had been taken up in the last two decades to reduce illiteracy.

In 1991, when the literacy rate was 35.3 percent, the then government took up a Tk 10.7 crore project titled “Integrated non-formal education project”, with Tk 2.6 crore coming from the state exchequer. The literacy rate rose to 51 percent by 1997 until the project continued, as per the report.

As the project succeeded, the government formed the Directorate of Non-Formal Education in 1995. Four projects were implemented under DNFE before it was transformed into BNFE in 2005.

BNFE officials said all the projects had respective target groups and achieved their goals, and that many people received basic and skills-based education.

Yet the literacy rate did not go up to the desired level, experts said.

Weak designs of the projects and irregularities are the reasons behind the state of literacy in the country, BNFE sources said.  

They also blamed a lack of long-term and sustainable planning in non-formal education and constraints of resources for adult literacy programmes for the government's failure in reaching its goal.

The government should set a realistic timeframe and make more focused efforts to achieve the target, experts say.

Whatever the government has achieved so far is because of the expansion of the primary education, said Rasheda K Choudhury, former caretaker government education adviser.

“The government's activities in education were solely project based, which implies that all activities under a project ended as its timeframe expired.” 

Programmes should be taken up considering socio-economic realities, as a programme for haor people in Sylhet will not be applicable to char people in Rangpur, said Rasheda Choudhury, who is executive director of Campaign for Popular Education.

The central government should frame guidelines, and finance and monitor the programmes whereas the local government bodies should be engaged in the implementation, she added.