The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Dhaka

Primary and Mass Education Adviser Rasheda K Chowdhury on Tuesday said the government is planning to introduce an integrated primary education system comprising formal and non-formal education to achieve a higher literacy rate.

Dwelling on the causes of unsatisfactory literacy rate, the adviser said formal education has been the focus of primary education system and for that reason those who were left out, missed out and dropped out from formal education could not get the chance of education.

She was addressing a roundtable conference marking the 'International Literacy Day-2008' jointly organised by Bureau of Non-Formal Education (BNFE) and Bangladesh National Commission for UNESCO (BNCU) in the auditorium of BANBEIS in the city.

Primary and Mass Education Secretary M Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan chaired the meeting, while Vice Chancellor of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Prof AMM Shafiullah joined it as the special guest.

Chief Editor of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury, Additional Secretary of Primary and Mass Education Kazi Akhter Hossain, Vice Chancellor of Dhaka International University Dr Nurul Momen and UNESCO Representative in Dhaka Malama Melissa were panel discussants.

Rasheda K Chowdhury said the present government has put equal emphasis on non-formal education along with formal education to eradicate illiteracy from the country She called upon all to take concerted efforts to free the nation from the curse of illiteracy aiming at turning the huge population into human resources.

"There were a lot of projects and programmes but they did not get much success due to lack of long-term vision and proper planning," the adviser said.

Describing literacy as the key to education, she placed emphasis on creating mass awareness about literacy and taking rapid steps in implementing the programmes taken to increase the rate of literacy in the country.

Presenting the keynote paper at the roundtable, Chairman of Bangla Department of Dhaka University Professor Abul Kashem Fazlul Haque said for achieving a satisfactory literacy rate, quality education and economic opportunities for the people should be created during and after education.

Primary and Mass Education Secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said that all would have to come forward in taking concerted efforts to free the country from the curse of illiteracy on an urgent basis.

Principal of Eden Girls College Yasmin Ahmed, Prof Nazrul Hossain of BRAC University and Principal of Dhaka Teachers Training College Taslima Begum took part in the discussion, among others.