Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman today (Saturday) said the country’s literacy rate is increasing rapidly keeping the pace with the global rate.
“Now, the country’s literacy rate is 72.9 per cent while 27.1 per cent people are still illiterate,” he said addressing the inaugural session of a discussion in Dhaka.
The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education organised the discussion at Jatiya Natyashala auditorium of Shilpakala Academy marking the International Literacy Day 2018.
Chaired by Primary and Mass Education Secretary Mohammad Asif-Uz-Zaman, the discussion was addressed, among others, by Chairman of Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Primary and Mass Education Ministry Md Motahar Hossian and its member AKM Zahangir Hossain.
Observing that there is no alternative to literacy for achieving the expected development goals, Mostafiz said the country’s literacy rate increased after the government took some pragmatic steps in this regard.
The Bureau of Non-Formal Education (BNFE) is implementing a literacy programme across the country to make 4.5 million people aged between 15-45 years literate and skilled, he said.
The minister said a preamble on non-formal education development programme is being prepared to achieve the targets of Sustainable Development Goal-4 and the Seventh Five Year Plan of the government.
He said the Non-Formal Education Act-2014 has been enacted to facilitate the underprivileged people with education, create alternative opportunity of education to the children dropped out of schools, and check school dropout rate.
Earlier in the day, a procession, led by Mostafizur Rahman, was brought out from the Shilpakala Academy premises at 9:00 am, reports BSS.
The International Literacy Day is being observed across the world today with the slogan ‘Literacy and Skills Development’ while it is being observed in Bangladesh with the slogan ‘Shakkharata Arjan Kori, Dakkha Hoye Jibon Gori’.