How far is the path of teaching illiterate old people?

 

At present, literacy in the country is slowing down: the government aims to make Bangladesh illiterate by 2014.  Still far from the goal.  In the 50 years of independence, only 73.9 percent of the people of the country are literate.  The remaining 26.1% is illiterate.  Analysts say the promise to make the country illiterate was political.  There was no realistic commitment.  The government has not made any roadmap to implement the pledge.  According to him, no allocation was made for education in the budgets of that time.  As a result, the illiterate population of three and a quarter crore is still stagnant in the country. It is learned that the election manifesto announced by the Awami League before the 2008 elections states in the Education and Science paragraph: "Net enrollment at primary level should be raised to 100 percent by 2010 and the country will be made illiterate by 2014".

According to the announcement of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, the country should be 100% illiterate in 2014.  Why not - because the 2008 announcement was political.  Far from practical application.  When a commitment is made, its implementation strategy also needs to be determined.  The country could not be free from illiteracy in 2019 because it did not happen.  The second reason is that the expenditure on education has not been increased.  The country is talking about illiteracy but education has not been allocated accordingly.  An important issue is education.  There will be no solution with small projects.  The project is over, the activities are over.  Then the issue of those who remained illiterate was left out.  Policymakers need to think of a lasting solution.

In this context, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education says, one crore people will be made illiterate in the next five years.  The government aims to make the country illiterate by 2030.

According to the data, the literacy rate in Bangladesh has increased by 26.10 percent in the last 10 years and the record amount has reached 73.09 percent.  This information was published in the latest report of UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) on literacy rate in Bangladesh.  In one decade, the literacy rate among adult males and females in the country has increased by 75.62 and 69.90 percent respectively.

According to UIS, Bangladesh is ahead of many other countries in terms of literacy rate.  India rate is 69.30 percent, Nepal 59.63 percent, Bhutan 57.03 percent and Pakistan 56.96 percent.  Bangladesh now ranks 164th in the world in terms of literacy rate.  First there is Georgia.  Their literacy rate is 100 percent.  In second place are Cuba and Poland jointly.  Their literacy rate is 99.60 percent.  Barbados is in the third place with 99.80 percent literacy.  The United States ranks 18th.  His literacy rate is 99 percent.  Bangladesh's neighbors India and Pakistan are at 146 and 160 respectively.  The literacy rate there is 61 percent and 49 percent.  And Burkina Faso is the country with the lowest literacy rate.  The country, which ranks 177th, has a literacy rate of only 23.60 percent.  Mali is in 176th place.  Their literacy rate is 24 percent.

On the other hand, there is a big gap between the urban and rural population in terms of literacy rate in our country.  The literacy rate in urban areas of the country is 81.1% but in rural areas it is only 66.1%.

Although we know that literacy is a prerequisite for the development of a country.  There is no country in the world that is poor even if it is 100% literate.  Each country has been 100 percent or so before signing up, then improving.  And our policy makers want to improve first and then give literacy to the country.  The so-called reverse journey.  Policy makers have to come back from this decision, first they have to educate the nation which will be beneficial.

The reality is that signing 'old' or 'very old' illiterates has now emerged as a major challenge for the Bangladesh government.  Although the rate of education has increased in the country, the rate of developing illiterate people as literate is not increasing in the same way.  At present there are 3 crore 25 lakh illiterate people in the country.

According to the data, 37 percent of the population aged 25 to 60 in the country is illiterate.  That means more than one-third of the entire workforce is still illiterate.  On the other hand, this illiteracy is again blamed as the cause of unemployment of the working population.  Even after that, leaving a large section of the population over the age of 25 illiterate, adult education activities have almost stopped.

According to the Sample Vital Registration System (SVRS) of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), a person can be said to be literate if he can write a simple letter.  According to Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics 2018 published by BBS, the literacy rate among the population aged 25 to 60 years is 63 percent.  The literacy rate of males is 73.9 percent and that of females is 68.7 percent.  As such, 37 percent of the total population aged 25 to 60 in the country is illiterate.

Adequate adult education activities are not being taken to bring this working class population under literacy.  In the last two decades, only one project has been taken up in the adult education program in the country.  The implementation of that project is not over yet.  In fact, in the last two decades, little has been done in the field of adult education.  No major initiative was taken after the overall literacy movement.  Which is hampering the mass literacy activities of the country.

However, the total Literacy Movement (TLM), one of the non-formal education projects in the country, started in 1996.  The project, run under the Department of Non-Formal Education, failed due to various allegations.  Besides, the non-formal education department was closed down in 2003 on allegations of corruption.  At that time there were widespread allegations of irregularities and corruption in the election of private companies.  In 2005, non-formal education activities were started again under the name of Non-Formal Education Bureau.  The Basic Literacy Project (BLP) was approved in 2014 under this bureau.  The implementation period of this project was till June 2019.  Although one phase of the project has been completed, one phase is still unrealized.

However, there are differences between government and non-government organizations regarding literacy rate and definition in the country.  Now if we accept the government's calculation, even then more than 25 percent of the population remains illiterate.  This number is not less.  The illiteracy rate is much higher in the 25-60 age group.  Necessary steps are not being taken to bring this large population under literacy.  Apart from regular education activities in the country, there is no big initiative for education of adults.  When the government took over the overall literacy program, NGOs were discouraged by the notification regarding adult education.  The Department of Non-Formal Education was then shut down for allegedly looting the project.  After that no big initiative was taken from any public or private sector.  Which I think is an obstacle for older illiterate people to acquire literacy rate.

In many cases, due to lack of proper planning, the benefits of various government initiatives do not match.  Adults are not interested in such educational activities.  They do not want to leave work in old age.  So in different countries of the world, various skill programs are added to the adult education project so that they become interested.  It can be applied in the case of Bangladesh.  The government should not only focus on the project, but also on the basis of proper planning.


Md  Atikur  Rahman is a Columnist & Former Head of PRD, BGMEA University of Fashion & Technology (BUFT).