BANGLADESH observed International Literacy Day on September 8 without having any accurate statistics on the literacy rate in the country. During the Awami League regime, the government had manipulated the literacy rate on a number of occasions to falsely claim its success in the education sector. During their three consecutive terms, the literacy rate increased by 21.2 percentage points, from 56.7 per cent in 2009 to 77.9 per cent in 2023. Contrary to the ousted government鈥檚 claim, the adviser to the primary and mass education ministry speculated that the actual literacy rate in the country was below 50 per cent. The adviser made the assumption on the ground that the quality of primary education has progressively declined in the past decade and that the claimed literacy rate does not hold true to students鈥� demonstrated reading and writing comprehensions. The adviser鈥檚 observation is in line with the Human Capital Index 2020, which reported that a Bangladeshi students鈥� learning achievement after 10 years of schooling is equivalent to that of a sixth grader from other countries. The admission of 鈥榗onfusion鈥� is not enough; the government needs to proactively take steps to fix the statistical manipulation and develop a strategy to improve the quality of primary education in the country.
The problems that are plaguing the primary education in Bangladesh are public knowledge. In 2022, UNICEF reported that only 34 per cent of third graders in Bangladesh have foundational reading skills, and only 18 per cent have foundational numeracy skills. Educationists blame successive governments鈥� negligence in developing trained skilled teachers for the primary education sector. Primary school teachers are underpaid, economically exploited and not given the much-needed training. In December 2024, a study by Eudco Bangladesh reported that teachers lack the capacity to employ effective learning methods, particularly at the pre-primary and secondary education levels, as only 3 per cent of teachers received specialised training in pre-primary education. Meanwhile, enrolment rate among students in primary, secondary and higher secondary is on a declining trend, while dropout rate is increasing largely because of poverty. The net enrolment rate, according to the Annual Primary School Statistics 2024, dropped to 94.55 per cent in 2024 from 97.76 per cent in 2023. The interim government, instead of addressing the systemic problem in the primary education, focused on the curriculum reform, which, according to many, is a misstep.
The government, under the circumstances, should take steps to prevent any future manipulation of education statistics because they carry the risk of misinforming and misdirecting policy directions, as evidenced in the past decade. At the same time, the government should consider forming a committee or commission to evaluate the quality of primary education and address the systemic concerns, including teacher training and issues regarding teachers鈥� compensation.
