Literacy is the cornerstone of education, and needs to be treated as one of our most basic human rights.
On International Literacy Day this week, the primary and mass education minister announced that the present literacy rate of the country is 65-67%, meaning that almost 55 million people are counted as illiterate.
The government had pledged in its 2008 manifesto to achieve 100% literacy by 2014, but has failed to meet this target.
Even though non-formal education methods and adult literacy programs are not very expensive or time consuming, this system has been neglected since 2002 with the government mainly focusing on primary education. This means Bangladesh is going to miss out on the Millennium Development Goal target of achieving a 100% adult literacy rate.
Unfortunately, poor planning in implementing literacy projects, erratic donor aid, and other budgetary insufficiencies, including corruption, are greatly slowing down all types of literacy projects.
Of most concern is that while the MDG target of providing universal primary education is rated as on target with 97.3% enrolment, drop rates, poor buildings, and irregular access, particularly in remote areas and among marginalised groups, are preventing the full target being met. Failing to guarantee literacy for this generation of children holds back our ability to ensure it for future generations.
Mass illiteracy contributes to and worsens unemployment and poverty.
As a country where people sacrificed their lives for their mother tongue, all governments should make it a top priority to end this scourge forever and benefit the lives of millions.