State’s negligence is to blame for uneven regional literacy rates

The education ministry must give special attention to the regions of the country where the literacy rate is poorer compared to the other regions. The national average literacy rate, reportedly, is 74.66 per cent, according to the preliminary report of the Population and Housing Census 2022. But in 2011 when the previous census was carried out, the average literacy rate was only 51.77.

This is a remarkable development. But all districts of the country could not catch up with this development. At present the lowest literacy rate is found in Jamalpur district which is 61.50 per cent. While the country’s highest, 78.09 per cent, is recorded in the Dhaka division, the Mymensingh division has the lowest 67.09 per cent. The other places where the literacy rate is lagging conspicuously behind are Sherpur (63.57 per cent), Bandarban (63.64 per cent), Sunamganj (64.77 per cent) and Kurigram (64.99 per cent).

While the government points out that poverty, short-term literacy projects, the Covid pandemic, various forms of discrimination and the absence of awareness are the reasons for the lower literacy rates, it will never take the blame upon its shoulders. One of the country’s noted educationists, Professor Serajul Islam Choudhury, rightly said that the state’s negligence is crucially responsible for the existing literacy gaps. There is no accountability for the relevant organisations, he pointed out.

The huge literacy gaps among places in the country, like uneven economic development, do not augur well for the country. This lopsided development not only creates restlessness; ethically speaking, it is social injustice also.

The government can take up various steps to augment the literacy rates. Firstly, besides motivation, incentives can be offered to poor families for sending their children schools so that these families do not think of engaging them to work, child labour to be precise.
We agree with the view that the literacy rate could be increased in the low-performing districts, if a long-term non-formal education development programme approach was undertaken for these places. It is also necessary to minimise the gaps in families created by factors such as economic and digital divide. One reason why the government’s “Digital Bangladesh” project failed is this divide.