Phase II of adult literacy programme launched

The government has launched the second phase of its non-formal adult literacy programme at a cost of Tk 567 crore to retain 17 lakh students of the Total Literacy Movement (TLM) -- the programme that miserably failed to carry out its mandate.

Terming the programme "a total waste of resources", Prime Minister Khaleda Zia last year blasted the key people implementing the Tk 683 crore TLM project for siphoning off funds through assigning 'signboard' or fake NGOs.

TLM authorities claimed to have educated over 92 lakh people. But the prime minister herself rejected the claim, irked by the fact that people remained illiterate in many places as the NGOs assigned for the project did not carry out their duties.

Sources alleged that a close aide of the premier who was in charge of steering the project siphoned off funds through her eight 'signboard' NGOs.

The prime minister was so angry that in November last year she abolished the Directorate of Non-formal Education (DNFE) -- the implementing body for the project -- for alleged corruption, misappropriation of funds and lack of quality, and fired its 378 officers and employees.

But donors strongly objected to the shutdown of the directorate as the root of corruption lay elsewhere.

The government did not take action against the real culprits including the premier's aide who is now steering the second phase of the project.

Once again, the government is hiring NGOs to implement the second phase of the project dubbed Post Literacy and Continuing Education Programme for Human Development (PLCEPHD) aimed at 'improving the acquired basic skills of the neo-adult literate and providing them with training to become self-reliant'.

With abolition of the DNFE, there is no exclusive implementing authority for the non-formal adult literacy programme, and the government has placed its new project under the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE).

The government move has also drawn disapproval of donors, who feel the DPE itself is overburdened with its Tk 6081 crore Primary Education Development Project II (PEDP-II) -- the biggest ever education project in the pipeline.

This is why the Asian Develop-ment Bank (ADB) has asked the government to suspend the PLCEPHD and clearly determine how it should be implemented before launching it.

"We are wondering how the primary education structure would be relevant for implementation of the Post Literacy and Continuing Education Project-2, since the focus of the project is strongly on development of life skills and income generating skills of the poor segment of the society," Edward M Haugh, director of ADB's Social Sectors Division, wrote in a letter to the secretary, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education.

The ADB has also asked to stop all ongoing construction works under the now defunct DNFE, including the DNFE headquarters at Tejgaon in the city, until the government sends a detailed plan for ADB's perusal.

The ADB said that in the coming years, DPE officers as well as district and upazila primary education officers will be heavily occupied with the coordination, management and implementation of the PEDP-II.

It will create confusion at the field level since non-formal education is conceptually not directly concerned with primary education, the letter stated.

The bank also warned that country's biggest education programme aimed at raising the standard of primary education may be jeopardised if non-formal education is implemented through the DPE.

"The valuable efforts undertaken and important PEDP-II plans prepared for the improvement of primary education under the leadership of your government, jointly with the ADB, and a large number of development partners as co-financiers, should not be put at risk," the ADB observed.