ON THE eve of International Literacy Day, the government has claimed that the literacy rate in Bangladesh has increased during the pandemic; however, educationists have raised questions about the authenticity of official data as educational institutions have been closed for more than 500 days now. The director of the Bureau of Non-Formal Education said, as reported in New Age on Monday, the literacy rate in Bangladesh has increased to 75.6 per cent in 2020 from 74.7 per cent in 2019. The basis of the claim is data collected in 2020 by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. When asked about the authenticity of the data, education managers, as well as the BBS director, insisted that the government had ensured uninterrupted academic activities amid the closure of educational institutions. Referring to research reports on the learning loss of children during the pandemic, educationists contested the claim and expressed concern that inaccurate literacy statistics carry the risk of misguiding policy decisions.

Educationists say that the literacy statistics are in direct contradiction with other related studies conducted in 2020. The education managers have repeatedly said that they have been offering lessons through distance learning programmes. However, a study of the Campaign for Popular Education found that about 69.5 per cent of the students did not participate in distance learning and 57.9 per cent of them said they could not join the classes due to a lack of devices. Earlier in January, the Brac Institute of Governance and Development said that 5.92 million primary and secondary students in the country were at risk of facing learning losses as a result of the closure. The definition of literacy is also a concern here as anyone able to read and write a letter in Bangla is considered literate. In 2018, a research of the World Vision Bangladesh reported that about 54 per cent of students in grade III did not understand what they were reading, while around 33 per cent could not read five words in 30 seconds. Therefore, the educationists’ concern about the accuracy of current literacy statistics in Bangladesh is not unfounded. Moreover, it is not the first time that the government has made a statistical claim that does not match reality. On a number of occasions, authorities and ministers had said that Bangladesh is self-sufficient in rice production, when in reality the government started importing rice as rice production has been hampered due to recurring natural disasters.

Statistical surveys are done to help the government to make an assessment of a situation and take effective policy decisions.  It should not be used as a political tool to hide the failure of the government as it appears in the case of the literacy statistics. The BBS must review its survey method and compare its data with other available studies on learning loss and literacy status during the pandemic. The government, as well as other stakeholders involved, must recognise that public confidence in the integrity and validity of official statistics is at stake here.