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“I never knew there’s so much beauty and fun hidden inside a book,” said 44-year-old Salma Begum, who learned to read and write very recently.“I had to blindly trust anyone who could read to let me know the contents of important documents. Now I’m self-sufficient in that regard, and use my own signature instead of thumb impressions,” added a delighted Salma.
This has been possible for a special programme going on at Pattashi Model Government Primary School Centre in Pirojpur’s Indurkani upazila.
People aged 15 to 45 years and above – devoid of the opportunity for education in their early years – are being provided with reading and writing lessons at different learning centres in the upazila under the “Basic Literacy Project”, run by the ministry of primary and mass education and supervised by Bureau of Non-Formal Education.
The project is being carried out in 114 upazilas under 64 districts and is currently in its second phase.
In Pirojpur, the programme is being run in Indurkani and Nazirpur upazilas.
“My afternoons were usually filled with gossip sessions with neighbours. Now I have finally found something productive to do with the free time,” said Tuli Begum, who has been taking regular two-hour lessons at the centre in the afternoons, the designated time for women learners. She has already made good progress with reading and writing.
“Our school and college-going children also help us at home with reading and writing when we face trouble,” said Nasrin Begum, another learner.
“I come from a low-income background. My parents married me off at an early age, and I didn’t get an education,” said Farida Begum. “But now I realise its necessity, and so I’m pursuing it.”
The same enthusiasm was seen among the male learners as well.
“Now I don’t have to depend on others with necessary documents,” said Md Afser Ali Sheikh, who has already mastered reading and writing.
Hanufa Akter, a teacher at the centre, said, “The women are very eager learners. The programme has initiated a transformation among the learners in general.”
“It is a bit difficult to teach the elderly. But I enjoy it fully,” said trainer Md Shafikul Islam.
Non-government organisation Rupashi Bangla Unnayan Sangstha (RBUS) is implementing the project in Indurkani. The ongoing programme started last December and is expected to end within the next six months.
Under the project, 15,120 people are being taught in 502 batches at 252 teaching centres in the upazila.
“We expect to eradicate illiteracy in the upazila upon completion of the programme,” said Azad Hossain Bacchu, executive director of RBUS.
Shamal Chandra Roy, programme officer of the project in Pirojpur, said it is a good initiative by the government.
“We are monitoring the project closely. Those getting the opportunity will be greatly benefitted after the programme’s completion,” he added.
– Article originally published on The Daily Star
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]]>Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are even worse off, the UN organisation said in its report released today.
In Bangladesh, one of the countries featured in the report, children endured one of the longest school closures in the world due to Covid-19, missing almost 18 months of in-person education.
“Even before the pandemic, children in Bangladesh faced education hurdles. Children in Bangladesh need full access to flexible and remedial learning to help make up for the time lost,” said Sheldon Yett, Unicef Representative to Bangladesh. “A failure to take action now puts the well-being of children and their families at
risk for generations to come,” he added.
School closures in Bangladesh from March 2020 to September 2021, and again in February 2022, have not only disrupted the education of around 37 million children. They have also exacerbated worrying gaps in basic literacy and numeracy skills which existed before the pandemic began, the report said.
As the Covid-19 pandemic enters its third year, 23 countries – home to nearly 405 million schoolchildren – are yet to fully open schools, with many schoolchildren at risk of dropping out, according to the unicef report.
It points out that 147 million children missed more than half of their in-person schooling over the past 2 years. This amounts to 2 trillion hours of lost in-person learning globally.
In addition to data on learning loss, the report points to emerging evidence that shows many children did not return to school when their classrooms reopened.
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