|
National
Literacy Policy
| Literacy
Rate |
Illiterate
Population |
| 37.7
% |
44.3
millions |
|
| 1995
figures estimated by UNESCO in 1998. |
| National
Literacy Goals |
| YEAR |
2005 |
2010 |
2015 |
| Total
adult literacy rate (%) |
100 |
100 |
100 |
| Female
adult literacy rate (%) |
100 |
100 |
100 |
| Male
adult literacy rate (%) |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
|
| Definition
of a Literate Person |
|
A literate person
is one who can read, write, calculate and be
socially aware.
|
| Name
of National Literacy Agency |
|
Directorate of
Non-Formal Education
| "Literacy
Facts and Figures" of Bangladesh |
|
|
| Number
of NGOs working in the field of literacy |
More
than 450 NGOs. |
| Number
of literacy classes in most recent year |
329,282
centres operated and 162,970 centres are ongoing. |
| Number
of classroom hours designated to achieve basic
literacy |
Two
hours a day. Six days a week. |
National Policies and
Strategies
National
Policies on Literacy / Non-formal Education in Latest Policy
Document on Education
In the words of a recent
official report by the Government's Primary and Mass
Education Division (PMED), the non-formal education (NFE)
system caters to:
'Those children who cannot or do not get enrolled in primary
schools, those who drop out of schools, the adolescents who
relapse into illiteracy or those young and adult people who
have never benefited from any schooling'.
The Fifth Five-year Plan
(1997-2002) states that:
"The purpose of non-formal education, besides
empowering the learners with skills related to literacy,
numeracy and communications as well as internalizing socio-cultural
traits, should extend to such areas as emotional and
physical well-being, self-actualization, creative and
aesthetic expression, basic technological skill and
orientation, entrepreneurial traits and leadership
skills."
In one of its strategies,
The Fifth Five-Year Plan refers to the expansion of
non-formal education and the involvement of other agencies,
NGOs and private organizations:
" There will be a multi-directional approach to combat
illiteracy. Non-formal education will be expanded along with
strengthening the Government Mass Literacy Centres,
mobilizing NGOs and utilizing the skill development/income
generating efforts of the agencies outside of the Ministry
of Education. NGO and private organizations will be involved
in a bigger way for the improvement of primary education,
which will include setting up of Ganobidyalas at the village
level."
The recently approved
National Education Policy 2000 (unofficial translation)
articulates a number of statements that can later on be
developed into a coherent framework on non-formal education.
It states that
"...mass education will branch out in two directions in
accordance with the age of the learners and subjects of
learning; adult education and non-formal education."
It further states that:
The aims of adult education are to offer people the skills
of literacy, reading, writing, numeracy; to inspire them
with human virtues and to raise awareness in them about
health and the environment. Non-formal education is
complementary to formal education. Through this the children
outside schools and the dropouts will have access to basic
education. They will also receive some practical skills,
which they can apply in real life situations as and when
necessary. NFE graduates can be enrolled in appropriate
classes of the formal schools.
Adult Education will
include literacy, cultivation of awareness and development
of professional skills. Opportunities will be created for
all illiterate men and women of the country giving
preference to those between 15-45 years of age.
Teachers will be specially
trained for the imparting of adult education. Excepting
courses on literacy, the duration, subject, teaching
learning methods, the qualification of teachers and the
learning process of other courses will be determined by the
needs of the local people, availability of resources, and
nature of professional groups. The national committee on the
Curriculum of Mass Education will prepare the curriculum of
appropriate subjects of other branches in view of the needs
of vocational and technical education, health, nutrition,
family welfare, agriculture, forest and environment,
fisheries and livestock.
Opportunities of Continuing
Education for literacy participated in by Government and
non-government organizations and civil societies can remove
illiteracy within a short period from the country. They will
apply various methods, materials and processes and mobilize
the target population. So, a realistic campaign of such
nature will be encouraged.
Literacy programmes can be
conducted in the distance education method through
electronic media like radio and television.
All activities in the area
of mass education will be coordinated. To do this the
Directorate of Non-formal Education will be turned into an
institution of Continuing Education and Skill Development.
This organization will be centrally responsible for
conducting the public programme of mass education and will
arrange financing. It will also coordinate the
non-governmental initiatives in mass education.
The roles of various
ministries, departments and national media in the extension
of mass education will be coordinated.
Legal framework will need
to be drawn to implement the constitutional commitment for
the extension of mass education and non-formal
education."
| Current
Literacy / Non-formal Education Objectives
/Strategies |
|
Bangladesh has a
strong national commitment to education with the
State having "a Constitutional obligation of
providing basic education to all its citizens by
removing illiteracy within a given time frame".
The Government has further committed itself to
attaining total literacy by the year 2006.
This commitment has
been strengthened through the Government of
Bangladesh's engagement in a number of international
declarations. The World Conference on Education for
All (Jomtien, 1990) commits the Government to the
overall objectives of achieving the goal of
'Education for All' (EFA).
| 1. |
To
increase literacy rate of adults (15 years
and above) to 80 percent by the year 2002 |
| 2. |
To
achieve 100% literacy by the year 2006 |
| 3. |
To
ensure the optimal use of educational
facilities at all levels |
| 4. |
To
empower learners with technological skill,
entrepreneurial traits and leadership skills |
| 5. |
To
empower learners with skills related to
literacy, numeracy, and communication |
| 6. |
To
reduce gender gap in literacy rate in both
rural and urban areas |
| 7. |
To
develop a continuing education programme for
neo-literates |
| 8. |
To
reduce disparity in literacy rates between
different areas |
| 9. |
To
enhance the participation of women in every
sphere of education as well as to reduce the
gap between facilities provided for male and
female education |
| 10. |
To
improve management of educational
institutions through involvement of local
bodies |
To meet these
commitments, the Government of Bangladesh has made,
as its major focus, the eradication of illiteracy
through the development of basic education. Basic
education is delivered through two parallel systems,
the formal and the non-formal. Because of the high
level of national commitment, the government has
recorded outstanding progress in education
especially in primary and Non-Formal Education. The
Govt. of Bangladesh is running 5 NFE projects
through the Directorate of Non-Formal Education.
|
| Lessons
Learned from Past Literacy Programmes and Activities |
| 1. |
Centre
Management Committees can play a much larger
and stronger role in giving community-based
direction to Non-Formal Education. |
| 2. |
Upazila/Regional
based skills and resources can be used for
NFE. |
| 3. |
A
much stronger monitoring and evaluation
system is required to be improved. |
| 4. |
Market
surveys are important to the degree that
they are consistent with learners' own
experience in the selection of skills to be
taught. |
| 5. |
Learners
need to be asked what skills they wish to
learn after they have received good market
information. |
| 6. |
Market
saturation may be a planning consideration. |
| 7. |
Bottom-up
implementation seems to be the consistent
characteristic to date of successful
examples in the NFE project implementation. |
|
[Updated in August 2001]
Source:
Asia-Pacific Literacy Data Base |