Total literacy elusive after Tk 4,000cr spent

Nearly one in five Bangladeshis aged seven and above remains illiterate, despite Tk 4,000 crore being spent on literacy programmes over the past 34 years.

The literacy rate among people aged seven and older is now 77.9 percent as per the Bangladesh Economic Survey 2024, said Bidhan Ranjan Roy Podder, the primary education adviser.

The actual rate could be even lower as the previous governments often tried to suppress information, he told reporters on Sunday.

Against the backdrop, Bangladesh yesterday joined the global observance of International Literacy Day.

Declared by UNESCO in 1965, this year's theme is "Promoting literacy in the digital era".

In Bangladesh, literacy is most commonly defined as the ability to read and write.

But the UNESCO broadened the definition beyond the conventional concept of reading, writing and counting skills. It encompasses the ability to identify, interpret, create and communicate in an increasingly digital, text-driven, information-rich and fast-changing world.

Literacy is attained through formal education and adult literacy programmes, but in Bangladesh, the focus has largely remained on the former, with the latter receiving less attention.

Since 1991, successive governments have undertaken multiple efforts to eradicate illiteracy, with the Bureau of Non-Formal Education (BNFE) implementing at least nine projects ranging from basic and post-literacy to non-formal education schemes.

The first project, taken up in 1991 by the BNP government, cost Tk 10.7 crore. When the project was discontinued in 1997, Bangladesh's literacy rate stood at 51 percent, up from 35.2 percent when it was taken up, according to Education For All Progress Report Bangladesh-2012.

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

After the Awami League came to power in 1997, it took up the "Total Literacy Movement" project.

However, the BNP government cancelled the project in 2003 on allegations of irregularities and mismanagement. The BNP government instead took up the Basic Literacy Project in 2004, targeting working children (10-14 years) in urban areas.

The BNFE spent around Tk 2,912 crore on the projects, according to BNFE officials, EFA Progress Report of Bangladesh-2012, and Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division of the planning ministry.

Then in 2014, the AL government took up the Basic Literacy Project, and in 2018, a Tk 1,320 crore project to provide non-formal education to 9 lakh children who are either school dropouts or have never attended school.

In September 2023, the government launched a pilot project titled "Skill-Based Literacy for Out-of-School Adolescents (SKILFO)" in Cox's Bazar.

Under the project, completed this June, 6,825 adolescents received literacy and technical training in 13 occupations and more than 6,000 of them were linked to jobs.

Now, the BNFE is preparing two more projects.

Based on the experience of SKILFO, it has prepared "SKILFO-2" project that will be implemented in 16 districts at a cost of Tk 460 crore if approved by the government.

The other project titled "Alternative Leaning Opportunity" will be launched in one upazila with low literacy rates in each of the 64 districts.

The three-year-long project worth Tk 188 crore is expected to commence in October if approved.

Educationists, however, are sceptical about eradicating illiteracy with such a project-based approach.

"All literacy initiatives have followed a piecemeal approach, which means that the drive ends when the project expires," said noted educationist Rasheda K Choudhury.

Literacy should be planned as part of the broader education system, not treated as a short-term intervention.

She also cast doubt on the accuracy of Bangladesh's literacy rate, saying the previous government raised the figure by two percentage points each year, which hardly reflected the ground reality.

"If this [interim] government relies solely on such data without taking the actual ground situation into consideration, it leaves us deeply frustrated."

Rasheda, also the executive director of Campaign for Popular Education, stressed the need for designing a long-term, integrated literacy programme that spans early childhood through adulthood, ensuring continuous learning opportunities across all age groups.

Contacted, Devabrata Chakraborty, director general (additional charge) of BNFE, said: "We are no longer focused only on literacy. Now we are more focused on functional literacy."

Mentioning the SKILFO project, he said it is often difficult to bring students who dropped out back to formal schools. For them, flexible learning has been introduced: 100 hours of literacy lessons with 360 hours of vocational training.

The goal is to fully realise the objectives of SDG 4, ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all, Chakraborty said.