Literacy rate now 75.6% in Bangladesh

The ruling Awami League-led government promised in its 2008 election manifesto to eradicate illiteracy in Bangladesh, but the goal is yet to be fulfilled even after 13 years.

The government statistics show that around 24 per cent people are still illiterate in the country even though the AL-led government has been in power for three consecutive terms.

Back in 2008, the AL government made the promise to eliminate illiteracy by 2014 but there is no significant progress to achieve the goal as different programmes initiated to reach the goal are moving at a snail’s pace.

Primary and mass education ministry sources said the literacy rate was 73.9 per cent in 2018, 74.7 in 2019 and 75.6 in 2020. The rate has not increased in 2021.

Stakeholders, however, have blamed faulty planning, lack of financing, natural disaster and poverty as challenges to eliminating illiteracy from the country.

Bangladesh will have to ensure 100 % literacy rate by 2030 to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). But, stakeholders said, eliminating illiteracy by the deadline will be a big challenge as different programmes undertaken to achieve the goal are moving at a snail’s pace.

Amid such a situation, the International Literacy Day 2022 is going to be observed in Bangladesh, like elsewhere in the world, today.

Meanwhile, State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Md Zakir Hossain on Wednesday said the literacy rate in Bangladesh now stands at 75.6 per cent.

The expected development in the country is not possible until 100 per cent literacy rate is achieved, he said while addressing a press conference at the ministry ahead of International Literacy Day 2022.

Zakir Hossain said online transfer process of teachers in government primary schools will begin from September 15 across the country.

The ministry’s secretary Aminul Islam Khan at the briefing said, “We are yet to achieve 100 per cent literacy rate due to various obstacles including Covid-19 pandemic and natural digesters in the country.”

“However, we have taken various initiatives to enhance our activities to attain 100 per cent literacy rate by 2030 to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” he added.

Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), a national coalition of Non-Government Organisations working in the field of literacy and education, published its latest report on literacy rates in 2016. It shows that the literacy rate was 51.3 percent. However, there have been no new surveys in the last six years.

The CAMPE report said progress in literacy had been slow, at just 0.7 percent per year. If the progress continues at this rate, it will take 44 more years to ensure basic literacy skills for all citizens of Bangladesh.

CAMPE’s Deputy Director KM Enamul Haque said “Currently, formal education is the key source for increasing the literacy rate in the country because there are no other activities.”

“Basic literacy programmes, second chance education programmes and non-formal education run by NGOs are now much needed while digital literacy learning space should also be increased,” he said, adding, “Otherwise, it is not possible to achieve SDGs by leaving out one-fourth of the country’s population as illiterate.”