Rifat Zafreen :
Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all is pointed in the recently declared Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To have literacy and a sustainable society, the above mentioned declaration is a must. Target 4.6 of SDGs says to ensure achieve literacy and numeracy by all youth and at least by a reasonable percent of adults, both men and women by 2030. Bangladesh has made significant progress in terms of adult literacy over the last 27 years. The MDGs targets have helped prioritize literacy among women, a socially neglected segment of population, by directing public funds to expand schooling opportunities for girls.
According to UNESCO, female youth literacy jumped from 60 percent to 79 percent between 2000 and 2010 in Bangladesh and even girls outnumbered boys in primary and secondary schooling though formal schooling is the most critical institution for obtaining literacy skills in rural Bangladesh where many children face obstacles, hardships and challenges.
Globally more than 750 million adults are unable to read write of which over half of all women are in sub Saharan Africa and South and West Asia while the poorest young women are six times less likely to be able to even read than the richest. In Bangladesh the scene is like 66 percent women are reported to be literate according to Government records though some statistics showed 48 percent. WiLCAS findings suggest poor retention ability among a segment of Bangladeshi women.
This loss of literacy is a particular risk for women in developing countries. Environment in which women can acquire and retain literacy skills is also shaped by various forms of social restrictions and norms. Majority of Bangladeshi women opt to have a life of being out of work and spend most of their lives as homemakers only. This creates conditions where literacy skills can be lost which in turn creates a new form of vulnerability for them and in having a sustaining literacy directly or indirectly.
Functional illiteracy can undermine a voice and agency among adolescent girls and women, which exposes them to various forms of violence. Early marriage is one of the most focused one for example.
Economic opportunities for women have been increasing in Bangladesh with the expansion of readymade garments industry sector and other work fields. Microfinance schemes of loan giving programs in the rural areas are also empowering women which are giving a set up of micro entrepreneurs for women. But scope of paid jobs for secondary school graduate women is still limited, which is making them vulnerable to situations where literacy can’t be retained. The poor quality of secondary schools makes it particularly hard to retain literacy in post school year.
In the absence of functional literacy millions of women in Bangladesh are exposed to many forms of violence and insecurity. In addition, Bangladesh cannot sustain the process of social development without functionally literate mothers. Women’s literacy is critical to attain in SDG 5 which says of achieving gender equality and women & girls empowerment.
As the country enters the post 2015 era of SDGs, we must ensure our schools should impart literacy skills which will sustain in post school years. This should go with the notion of ‘lifelong learning’ for all – children, youth and adults irrespective of their level of schooling completed.
In addition, efforts to create jobs for women must go alongside government’s initiatives. These initiatives try to ensure that the rural schools would provide a minimum level of literacy skills that may sustain over time irrespective of having life women would choose over their life time. These can be completed by new initiatives targeting women who have graduated from schools but are not economically active, rather constrained at home because of traditional social norms.
ICT access should be explored and exploited at its best to facilitate these women to promote a literacy and reading practice friendly environment though there prevails a wide range of gap in internet usage at the national level not to mention the rural perspective. In absence of new initiatives and opportunities to sustain literacy in post school years in Bangladesh, improved school enrolment and school completion by girls are a must to attain SDGs target 4.6.
Sustainable development is impossible in the post 2015 era without having improved literacy. And schooling will mean nothing without it. To achieve the SDGs and make it a success, we all need our awareness, true will and active participation at the maximum height and our cumulative efforts can do it.
(PID-Project Feature)
Ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all is pointed in the recently declared Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To have literacy and a sustainable society, the above mentioned declaration is a must. Target 4.6 of SDGs says to ensure achieve literacy and numeracy by all youth and at least by a reasonable percent of adults, both men and women by 2030. Bangladesh has made significant progress in terms of adult literacy over the last 27 years. The MDGs targets have helped prioritize literacy among women, a socially neglected segment of population, by directing public funds to expand schooling opportunities for girls.
According to UNESCO, female youth literacy jumped from 60 percent to 79 percent between 2000 and 2010 in Bangladesh and even girls outnumbered boys in primary and secondary schooling though formal schooling is the most critical institution for obtaining literacy skills in rural Bangladesh where many children face obstacles, hardships and challenges.
Globally more than 750 million adults are unable to read write of which over half of all women are in sub Saharan Africa and South and West Asia while the poorest young women are six times less likely to be able to even read than the richest. In Bangladesh the scene is like 66 percent women are reported to be literate according to Government records though some statistics showed 48 percent. WiLCAS findings suggest poor retention ability among a segment of Bangladeshi women.
This loss of literacy is a particular risk for women in developing countries. Environment in which women can acquire and retain literacy skills is also shaped by various forms of social restrictions and norms. Majority of Bangladeshi women opt to have a life of being out of work and spend most of their lives as homemakers only. This creates conditions where literacy skills can be lost which in turn creates a new form of vulnerability for them and in having a sustaining literacy directly or indirectly.
Functional illiteracy can undermine a voice and agency among adolescent girls and women, which exposes them to various forms of violence. Early marriage is one of the most focused one for example.
Economic opportunities for women have been increasing in Bangladesh with the expansion of readymade garments industry sector and other work fields. Microfinance schemes of loan giving programs in the rural areas are also empowering women which are giving a set up of micro entrepreneurs for women. But scope of paid jobs for secondary school graduate women is still limited, which is making them vulnerable to situations where literacy can’t be retained. The poor quality of secondary schools makes it particularly hard to retain literacy in post school year.
In the absence of functional literacy millions of women in Bangladesh are exposed to many forms of violence and insecurity. In addition, Bangladesh cannot sustain the process of social development without functionally literate mothers. Women’s literacy is critical to attain in SDG 5 which says of achieving gender equality and women & girls empowerment.
As the country enters the post 2015 era of SDGs, we must ensure our schools should impart literacy skills which will sustain in post school years. This should go with the notion of ‘lifelong learning’ for all – children, youth and adults irrespective of their level of schooling completed.
In addition, efforts to create jobs for women must go alongside government’s initiatives. These initiatives try to ensure that the rural schools would provide a minimum level of literacy skills that may sustain over time irrespective of having life women would choose over their life time. These can be completed by new initiatives targeting women who have graduated from schools but are not economically active, rather constrained at home because of traditional social norms.
ICT access should be explored and exploited at its best to facilitate these women to promote a literacy and reading practice friendly environment though there prevails a wide range of gap in internet usage at the national level not to mention the rural perspective. In absence of new initiatives and opportunities to sustain literacy in post school years in Bangladesh, improved school enrolment and school completion by girls are a must to attain SDGs target 4.6.
Sustainable development is impossible in the post 2015 era without having improved literacy. And schooling will mean nothing without it. To achieve the SDGs and make it a success, we all need our awareness, true will and active participation at the maximum height and our cumulative efforts can do it.
(PID-Project Feature)
