Where do we stand in terms of removing illiteracy, let alone the quality of education, even though we have already crossed more than fifty years of our independence? The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has recently published a report that shows we have so far achieved 76.8% literacy. However, if we consider the reading, understanding, writing and counting skills of the people, this figure will further be squeezed. The socioeconomic and demographic survey-2023 of BBS shows that 25% of the people of 18 districts still cannot read and write. Mainly, poverty hinders their access to education.

Moreover, infrastructural and manpower shortages, weakness in implementing projects at the field level and lack of coordination among different entities can be held responsible for this. Bandarban, the hill district, stands at the top of the illiteracy rate as well as the poverty rate. Then come Jamalpur, Sherpur and Netrokona under Mymensingh division, and the northern district of Kurigram. Then the question arises: where do we stand in the race to achieve the SDG by 2030?

Around 14% of children who enrol in primary schools drop out before the completion of primary education, and 36% of students drop out at the secondary level. The population between the ages of 5 and 24 totals 6,37,00,000, of whom 59.28% are in education. The government took several steps to increase the number of literate people. However, after the completion of projects taken up to remove illiteracy, the results were frustrating. There was no relevant continuity, coordination, proper feedback or skilful management to run the projects. Currently, literacy means the ability to read Bengali, to explain various things orally and in writing, to maintain communication and to count. One study by BIDS says that though many children go to school, they don’t acquire these qualities.

The children are supposed to learn the alphabet and count till 20, even at the pre-primary level. However, in grades three and four, many students cannot read Bengali and find it difficult to identify the symbols of mathematics. Even worse, they automatically get promoted to the next higher classes and reach the last stage of secondary school, yet they still show almost the same level of poverty in reading, writing, and other expected areas. This situation has gripped the entire nation, ranging from the remotest parts of the villages to many institutions in the city. No tangible and fruitful steps have yet been taken to solve the problem, but rather, with the highest expectation, a new curriculum has been introduced without giving any importance to the root-level problems.

BRAC, the largest NGO in the world, has introduced a unique model since 1985 for increasing the number of literacies in the country while keeping its footprint in hard-to-reach areas where government efforts prove zero or unreachable. One teacher, one classroom, completing the primary circle in four years in a really playful atmosphere and the same teacher keeps with the children from grades one to five. They were not taught traditionally, but rather through fun, games, songs and recitation, drawing and dancing. Several million children were thus emancipated from the curse of illiteracy.

In 1997, a subsector was developed that was named PEDP-1, which was fully controlled by the government. From PEDP-1 to PEDP-4, 20 billion dollars, as of 2024, was spent with extremely poor results. The projects just satisfied the government officials. The children who enrolled in schools could not read, write or count; just projects started and continued till the last date, and another project came with a huge amount of money.

‘Reaching Out of School Project’ has been renamed Second Chance Education, keeping the entire control in the hands of BNFE. As they do not have any effective mechanism to reach the really needy children, they engaged the NGOs. But NGOs could not work as per their own plans and strategies. This traditional attitude of the government agencies could not bring any positive results for this project. I had the opportunity to work for BRAC Education, which gave me ample opportunity to learn and see the entire situation very closely.

The BNFE officials’ field visit was purposeful, and no quality or effective strategic discussion was there. Even they engaged the small NGOs that do not have the experience or ability to deal with the affair. The question arises: how did those NGOs get the opportunity since BNFE officials’ huge demand to pay field visits was really difficult for the small NGOs to comply with? However, they satisfied their demands, keeping the basic purpose of the project away.

It is true that the rate of illiteracy has increased compared to previous years, even though the quality remains a big question. The people who have not visited school in their lives amount to more than 30 million, or 17.47% of the total population. Those who have gone to school but could not complete grade one account for four and a half lac and around two and a half crore people could not pass the primary circle. However, we need to raise the literacy rate to 100 per cent maintaining quality to make our independence meaningful for the nation. So, the available strength of the country must be utilised, putting away all sorts of egotism and bridging the gaps lying between the government and non-government sectors.

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The writer is the president English Teachers’ Association of Bangladesh.

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