What is illiteracy?

Illiteracy, in the strict, sense, meaning the inability to read, write

and counting simple sentences in any language.
Functional illiteracy is a term used to describe reading and writing
skills that are inadequate to manage daily living and employment
tasks that require reading skills beyond a basic level.
LOCATION OF MY VILLAGE

THE

NAME OF MY VILLAGE IS

CHADPUR UNDER

UPAZILA

THE

BAHARAPUR. IT

IS IN THE DISTRICT OF

FORIDGEGONG UPAZILA .FORIDGEGONG

WITH AN AREA OF

34.26

SQ KM, IS BOUNDED BY HAJIGANJ

UPAZILA ON THE NORTH , RAMGONG UPAZILAS ON THE

SOUTH ,CHANDPURE SADAR UPAZILA ON THE EAST,
UPAZILAS ON THE WEST.

The map of my village

LAXIPURE

Land

Total
land 2,3544 hectares
fallow land 548 hectares
single crop 29%
double crop 50% and treble crop 39%
land under irrigation 32%

cultivable

VARIOUS PROFESSIONS OF PEOPLE

TOTAL PEOPLE

32,675

AGRICULTURE 23.89%
AGRICULTURAL LABORER 45.74%
WAGE LABORER 2.58%
WEAVING 1.9%
INDUSTRY 3.13%
COMMERCE 15.56%
TRANSPORT 6.16%
SERVICE 11.7%
OTHERS 12.34%

TOTAL NUMBER OF ILLITERATE AT OUR

DISTRICT
30.6%;
MALE 28.3%,
FEMALE 42.2%.

AVERAGE

ILLITERACY

CAUSES OF ILLITERACY?
1. Poverty

Poverty is the general state of living with the lack of basic human needs like
food, clothing, shelter, sanitation, education, etc. Out of 2.2 billion children
present int he world, almost a billion of them are suffering due to poverty
and 121 million of them are deprived of education. In all countries, poverty
presents a chronic stress for children and families. This in turn, also
interferes with successful adjustment to developmental tasks. Children
raised in low-income families are at the risk of suffering academic and
social problems, as well as poor health and well-being, which can in turn
undermine educational development. Most of the poverty stricken families,
which cannot afford a meal once a day, have no intention of educating their
children and often make them do certain menial jobs for a living, which is
one of the main causes of child labor. A nation is known by its people,
most important of who are the children who comprise our forthcoming
generation.

2. Insufficient facilities
Improper, facilities in some countries is one of the most common causes for
illiteracy. Literacy laws, which have been enforced, quite often fail to reach
many villages and remote places. Many of the villages have no schools and
if present, lack basic facilities like infrastructure, proper lighting, desks, etc.
which are required to create an ambient environment conducive to proper
education. The environment in which education is imparted to students
plays a very important role and must be given careful consideration.
Unfortunately, many children filled with the zest to learn lose hope
eventually and drop out due to the scanty availability of basic necessities.
The governments should bear in mind the rate of population growth and try
to develop modern techniques at an equal pace, while also ensuring its
implementation evenly throughout nations and the world.

3. Social Evils
There are a myriad of societies living in our world. Each one has its own
characteristics. However, it should be noted that no society is perfect.
Every society has certain evils and disadvantages associated with it. Even
in todays modern world, certain social evils like corruption, poverty and
crime continue to exist, which brings in social disruption
including disharmony and challenges like illiteracy. The one social evil at its
peak currently is corruption. It is because of corruption that the
money which is provided for the construction of schools and educational
institutions ends up filling pockets of people at each and every level,
depriving many of their right to education. It is very important to curb
corruption; otherwise the rich will keep getting richer and the poor, poorer.

4. Population explosion

In 2013, the worlds population reached 7 billion, as estimated by the

United States Census Bureau (USCB). China tops the chart by
accounting for about 19% of the entire worlds population, followed by
India contributing to 17.4% of the aggregate. Indian also has the
worlds largest illiterate population. The population of the world is
continuing to soar up whereas the resources available are
diminishing. This mainly affects the poor population. Most of the
people below poverty line and close to it, who have large families,
send their children away to factories or mines for work to earn money
for their sustenance and deprive them of primary and secondary
education. Population growth and illiteracy are inextricably related to
each other. Illiteracy leads to growth in population, and vice-versa,
and if either of them is not kept in check, there may be no way out of
the vicious cycle.

5. Gender bias
Gender bias has always been and continues to be an insidious problem in
countries like India, Pakistan and various others. While many people notice
it, few attempts to stand up against it, and even fewer succeed in it. Many
people, often illiterate, have a misconception that a son, being the bread
winner of the family, has the right to education. On the other hand, a
daughter is considered, in many cases, a burden, and is denied many
things, the most important one being education. It was not until the 19th
century that people came up with reforms which had female education as
their main goal. These reforms did have an impact and relieved women of

the abominable restrictions that had been imposed upon them. In spite of
all the reforms which got implemented, and todays modernization, people
still tend to remain ignorant to the fact that when a woman is educated, she
educates her entire family and the society, unlike a man who gets educated
alone.

6. Emigration of Educated Individuals

Emigration is a steadily increasing phenomenon in todays globalized
world. Many Indians are working abroad in search of more opportunities.
Many such individuals decide to settle overseas on account of better
working conditions and higher compensations, to acquire greater living
standards, or to advance their own personal development by exposing
themselves to new cultures. The out flux of such educated individuals
creates a negative impact on the literacy rates of our country, lowering it
further. The well-educated and professionally successful class of workers
are also the ones who own the finances involved in such migration. The
illiterate masses who often lack the means to educate themselves
obviously cannot dream of shifting to another country to do so. Hence, as
far as national literacy is concerned, emigration of educated individuals is
detrimental to the improvement of educational statistics in the country.

7. Individual Disabilities
The most unfortunate are those whose physical or mental conditions do not
allow them to educate themselves easily. Disabled children find it
exceedingly difficult to read, write, absorb and remember information. For
example, a dyslexic child will find it hard to remember the letters of the
alphabet and to interpret words when they are formed with those same
letters. (Dyslexia is a reading disorder in which individuals, despite having
normal intelligence face problems with reading and comprehension.)
Physical disabilities also inhibit literacy. A blind child will find it difficult to
read without assistance. A child with a disabled arm will find writing a tough

task. Such persons are often neglected and shunned from schools. The
truth is that with proper care and assistance, many of these differentlyabled children can be taught to read and write almost as well as anybody
else. This will not only empower them to overcome their disabilities and
become achievers in life, it will also improve the literacy situation of the
entire country. Such children and adults require special schools where they
can be taught with suitable methods so that their disabilities do not come in
the way of their education. With a little humanity and compassion, we can
change their lives for the best.

8. Backward Thinking
A section of our society has been unable to move with the times, owing to
generations of being ensconced by religious dogma or orthodox family
practices. They reject modern education as a threat to their beliefs and way
of life. Consequently, the children of such households are also deprived of
the opportunity to study in modern schools and free their minds of
meaningless conventions and conservative ideologies. Man has made
religion and tradition integral aspects of his being, but they lose their
purpose if we allow them to constrain our liberties and blind our minds to
the virtues of new learning, innovation and discovery. Such backward
thinking limits the scope of human achievement and is an unfortunate
cause of illiteracy in our country. Spreading awareness and convincing
theses sections of our society to open their eyes to education is the only
way to rid them of such ignorance.

9. Geographical Factors
These contribute too, to the illiteracy rate. If a family lives in a remote
location like deep within the Himalayan forests or in the arid desert lands
of the Thar, they are often cut-off from mainstream civilization and all
convenient facilities of education. This is true especially in the case of
wandering tribes like the Warlis of the West and the numerous forest
communities residing at the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas. These tribes
often follow shifting cultivation as a result of which they have no permanent
dwelling place. Moreover, their culture and practices are so different from
the mainstream that it is difficult to bring them in sync with modern society
and provide them with similar kind of education. There has also been great

debate on whether these communities should be modernized and taught to

read and write like the rest of us, as many assert that such efforts might
lead to the destruction of their indigenous tribal culture and loss of identity.
Bringing them out of the hills and forests and forcing them into education is
a step which might lead to great resentment on their part.

10. Attitude towards Learning

We believe that education uplifts us. It is the only path which can lead us to
wisdom and liberation. This is what we believe. But there are certain
sections of people who think otherwise, who look down upon education and
regard it with contempt. They claim that it is of no use to build a scholarly
mind or enlighten it through academics. They forget, however, that
education comprises holistic development of the mind, body and soul. It
does not concern academics alone. Families of poor financial standing
often discourage studying in their households as they wish to engage the
children in work as soon as possible to expand their collective
remuneration. They do not realize that uneducated workers can never
survive comfortably in a fast changing world where competition is extreme.
Depriving children of basic reading and writing skills limits their
opportunities to a bare minimum and inhibits their mental capacity to
contribute productively to society and to their own betterment. All members
of a society need to look up to education with respect and a will to learn.
Parents must inculcate such a will in the minds of their children, for only
then will the future generations be adequately equipped to take care of our
world.

How to remove the illiteracy?

spread of education: education

is sweet and light. This light should

be given to all irrespective caste, creed, color, gender and religion. So the
removal of illiteracy is a must. If the measures discussed above are taken,
illiteracy will disappear shortly. The government should give top priority to
the removal of illiteracy.
1

2 .Agricultural development: There are many agricultural challenges that

the practice of rural development can overcome. Some of the obstacles
facing the agricultural industry include soil that might have been damaged

by overuse, in addition to shortages in seeds, fertilizers and other irrigation

supplies. A farmer's crops must be protected from disease and other threats,
such as bugs and extreme weather conditions. Without the development of
any of these basic farming components, a farmer cannot sell his or her goods
to the market.
3 .Industrial development: The development of industrialization will increase

the production and solve the unemployment problem and also increase
urbanization, but it is lack of our country.

4 .Govt. Steps: government has taken a number of steps to increase

literacy, ramp up higher education particularly in science and engineering,
impart skills to young citizens and develop vocational education.

5. Promote and facilitate the integration of a gender perspective in policy

planning, programming, implementation and evaluation in activities.
6.

Address and promote womens priorities and vision of development goals

and approaches through greater participation of women at all levels and in all
areas of UNESCO action.

7.

Establish region-specific programmers and activities that benefit grills and

women of various ages.

8. Set up capacity-building in member States

9. Increases the awareness of and respect for womens human rights as explained in
the convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW)

10. Ensure equal access to education

11. Develop non-discriminatory education and training
12. Promote lifelong education and training for everyone

Conclusion:
Government alone cannot cope with such an uphill task of
eradicating
illiteracy. People themselves should come forward
to perform this national duty so that the literacy drive may come
to the top in a mass movement. Bangladesh is sure to be left far
behind in comparison with other countries in point of socioeconomic improvement unless and until the intelligentsia of the
country think deeply over this cancerous disease of illiteracy.
We can saw Above all, govt., public and private agencies through
their joint efforts should play vital role to remove the illiteracey.

Sources:
1 .Primary sources: Observation, Questionnaire Interview, etc.
2 .Secondary sources: Book, statistical gazetteers, Internet etc.

My village picture

Unemployment

Beggar