THAT literacy is the prime vehicle for national development in a quintessentially globalised environment is a universally acknowledged fact. Yet, the rate at which literacy has increased in the country since independence when we became the master of our own destiny with the added advantage of pressing the mother tongue into service, leaves a good deal of disappointment to contend with.
On the World Literacy Day, this year's theme being 'Literacy is the best remedy', Chief Adviser of caretaker government Dr Fakruddin Ahmed demurred at the current literacy spread being 63 percent despite the plethora of programmes implemented over the years to raise the figure at par with some of the other Saarc countries. Even this official figure is contested in independent assessments which hold that the spread of literacy in the country, according to international standards, may have actually been less than cited by government circles. Political parties in power have had a way of claiming a high literacy figure to score a political point over each other. So, the level of frustration may be even greater than that ventilated by the chief adviser.
After 24 projects adopted in the name of mass literacy campaign with assistance from development partners and multilateral agencies, NGO-operated adult literacy drives and the government-launched universal and compulsory primary education campaign since the '90s, our hands are full with lessons learnt to be applied in advancing literacy.
First and foremost, the rate of drop-out from primary and secondary level education will have to be markedly reduced. Experts believe the key lies in feeding the children at school with a mid-day meal. Simultaneously, the stipendiary approach needs to be expanded. Secondly, equally important, if not more, is the task of curbing institutional corruption in the primary education and community schooling sectors where ill-paid teachers have to sell their salaries in advance allowing cuts to thugs in order to keep afloat knowing fully well that even the meagre salaries fall in arrears. Last but not least, it is not practicable to nationalise the sector all at once. We have to build up a composite framework for primary education and adult literacy through government, private sector and NGO partnership. But most of all, insofar as achieving universal functional literacy goes, we have no other alternative but to associate the whole community. Since it will take a robust political will to reach a hundred percent literacy, political parties should adopt the target at the top of their list of agenda.