Unesco finds literacy rate 14pc lower than government's claim
Staff Correspondent
A UN organisation yesterday said the country's literacy rate stands at 41 percent, 14 percent lower than the government's figure derived through asking people if they can write their names.The United Nations Education Science and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) revealed the figure through a press briefing. Unesco Country Representative Wolfgang Vollmann speaking at the briefing at Dhaka Reporters' Unity office yesterday said the literacy rate was mentioned in a report of the Unesco Institute for Statistics. It was calculated by examining sample respondents whether they can actually write or read. But the government's figure is based just on interview of the respondents Vollmann said unlike the government Unesco does not consider a person literate if they can only write their names. Instead, the person has to know how to read and write simple texts. He further added that had the government figure of 65 percent literacy rate was acceptable, then Bangladesh's position in the Human Development Index (HDI) would have been much higher. The briefing was organised to on the eve of the International Literacy Day today. On primary education, the Unesco representative said illiteracy is dragging down the quality of primary education, as parents themselves are illiterate and cannot take care of their children. About non-formal primary education, he said keeping up the standards of such education is very difficult because of difficulty in monitoring. Regarding women literacy, Vollmann said two-thirds of women over the age of 15 are literate. The Unesco report mentions that Bangladesh has made significant progress in increasing enrollment rates in primary education, but it stressed the need for improving quality of primary education.
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