Half the children can’t read, comprehend

As the government aims to raise the country’s literacy rate to between 86 and 90 percent by 2031, nearly half of children aged seven to 14 still fail to read and understand a simple story.

Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2025, revealed in June this year, found that only 50.2 percent of children in this age group met the foundational reading benchmark, up just 1.4 percentage points from 48.8 percent in 2019.

Even among class-V students, only 62 percent fulfil the criteria, meaning around two in five still fall short. The rate was 63.5 percent six years ago.

Educationists said the findings expose a gap between Bangladesh’s literacy progress on paper and children’s actual learnings. They warned that increasing the literacy rate would have little meaning unless children acquire the ability to read and understand.

“The foundation of literacy has yet to be built in our country,” Manzoor Ahmed, emeritus professor at BRAC University, told The Daily Star.

He said official literacy figures largely depend on whether people report that they can read and write, while assessments that test actual reading, comprehension, and numeracy skills often show a weaker picture.

“We first need to determine where we actually stand and then set a target.”

The findings come as Bangladesh observes International Literacy Day today with the theme “Literacy for people, the planet and prosperity”.

On this occasion, State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj yesterday said the government plans to raise the literacy rate among children aged seven and above from the current 77.89 percent to between 86 and 90 percent by 2031.

It also aims to bring 45 lakh adults aged 25 to 45 under a functional literacy programme.

Unlike self-reported literacy figures, the MICS assessment tests whether children can read a short passage and understand what they have read.

To meet the foundational reading standard, children have to correctly read at least 90 percent of the words in a story and answer literal and inferential comprehension questions.

The MICS survey, conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics with Unicef, assessed 31,859 children aged seven to 14 in 64 districts.

It found that 61.6 percent of children could correctly read at least 90 percent of the words. But only half could complete all the tasks required.

Of children attending classes-II and -III, only 28.2 percent demonstrated foundational reading skills, compared with 24.6 percent in 2019.

The rate improved as children progressed through school, but many still reached higher grades without mastering basic skills. Only 35.4 percent of class-III students achieved the standard, rising to 54.7 percent in class-IV and 62 percent in class-V.

WEAKNESS BEYOND READING

A Unicef-backed study released in May this year found that 91 percent of class-V students were at the “novice” level in mathematics, while 65 percent were at that level in Bangla, meaning they could not correctly answer even half of the grade-appropriate questions.

Citing national student assessments, Prof Manzoor said children were repeatedly found to reach classes-III and -V without acquiring the Bangla and mathematics skills expected at those levels.

“The issue is not only whether children are in school, but also whether they are learning in school.”

The national average also hides sharp inequalities.

Only one in three children from the poorest 20 percent of households demonstrated foundational reading skills, compared with 67.4 percent of those from the richest fifth.

Urban children performed better, with 55.6 percent demonstrating foundational reading skills compared with 48 percent in rural areas.

Talking to this newspaper, Rasheda K Choudhury, executive director of Campaign for Popular Education, said Bangladesh needs to address two challenges at the same time: improving classroom learning and creating opportunities for those who are already outside the formal education system.

She said much of the progress in literacy over the years has come from expanding primary and secondary education, which has helped children acquire a basic level of literacy.

But adults and young people who have already left the education system require separate lifelong learning opportunities.

Rasheda added that Bangladesh’s literacy initiatives have largely remained project-based rather than being developed as long-term programmes.

She said this approach often creates gaps between programmes and prevents literacy efforts from producing lasting change, stressing that adult literacy programmes must consider people’s daily realities.

Rasheda said literacy programmes should involve local communities and be based on local needs, including demand-driven skills training.

“Goodwill, capacity, and coordination are all necessary,” she said, emphasising that the three must work together for literacy programmes to succeed.

The government, under Functional Literacy and Practical Skills Training programme, is providing literacy and pre-vocational training to out-of-school adolescents aged 15 to 24 across 58 district headquarters.

State Minister Bobby Hajjaj said the programme aims to create a pathway from education to employment.