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Chapter: The rate of poverty in Bangladesh:

Overview Poverty levels are typically determined based on income and consumption levels. But evidence, and the voices of poor people themselves, has shown that poverty has many more dimensions. Poverty means hunger, lack of medical treatment, and poor access to basic services, such as electricity and water supply. It means being unable to send children to school and often needing them to work instead. Poverty means a lack of assetssuch as land or savingsand thus extreme vulnerability to shocks due to economic downturns, family illness or natural disasters. It means social exclusion, and a constant feeling of insecurity and stress based on an uncertain future. Bangladesh is one of the world's most densely populated countries with !" million people, #$ percent of whom live below the national poverty line. In addition, child malnutrition rates of #% percent are the second highest in the world, a condition that is tied to the low social status of women in Bangladeshi society &'unger pro(ect, )pril **, *""%+. In Bangladesh, the 'unger Pro(ect has been active since $$" and is currently the country's largest volunteer,based organi-ation covering all .# districts. Poverty and Hunger Thresholds /here are no recent ob(ective poverty statistics available for Bangladesh. ) new 'ousehold Income and 0xpenditure 1urvey is due to be published during *" , updating its predecessor from *""!. ) further concern is that the definitions of poverty and hunger appear increasingly outdated and inade2uate. /he 3illennium 4evelopment 5oals &345s+ in Bangladesh have been monitored by reference to national upper and lower poverty lines, the thresholds for poverty and hunger respectively. International standards presume that the upper line allows for the cost of some essential non,food items of household expenditure. But in Bangladesh it is defined as the value of a 6minimum dietary energy re2uirement7 of * ** calories per day. /he hunger threshold is based on %"! calories, significantly below the level normally recommended by the 89 :ood and )griculture ;rgani-ation. /he *""$ 345 Progress <eport for Bangladesh concedes that 6the * ** kcals=day threshold looks to be the most appropriate threshold with regard to monitoring and reporting of progress in hunger.7 /he report does not suggest an amended basis for the upper poverty line and its conclusions are accordingly somewhat confused.

Profile of Poverty Poor people in Bangladesh tend to have low levels of education and limited access to land and hold low paying, physically demanding, and socially unattractive occupations, such as casual wage labor. In both urban and rural areas, the poor lack access to modern amenities and services, and they also tend to live in houses of inferior 2uality. 'ouseholds headed by women, who are widowed, divorced, or separated, have a considerably higher incidence of poverty relative to the others. In the $$"s alone, poverty in Bangladesh shrank by $ percent, stemming in large part from strong, sustained economic growth, with an average annual 54P increase of almost ! percent and a rise in real per capita 54P of >. percent, or twice the average rate of other low, and middle,income countries. 4uring the same decade, the population growth rate was brought down to an annual average of .! percenta ma(or social achievement and an essential re2uirement for poverty reduction. ?ulnerability of poor people to economic downturns and natural disasters was significantly reduced through government safety net programs. /he number of children completing grade five increased by * percent, and every year around one million (obs were created for new entrants to the country's work force, many of whom are women. Bangladesh made progress in reducing child malnutrition, with its ill effects, such as low birth weight and stunting, reduced by *" to *! percent over the decade. @iteracy was increased by *.! percent, and the country reached parity between boys and girls in primary school enrollment. <ecently, Bangladesh has made significant progress in controlling expenditures, mobili-ing revenues, closing loss,making state enterprises, and exerting more discipline on other state,owned enterprises. /hese actions have brought public finances back into better balancea ma(or re2uirement to free up more money to be spent on social services. Poverty in Bangladesh: Building on Progress In only a little over three decades as an independent country, Bangladesh has made significant progress in reducing poverty and improving the lives of its people. 'owever, nearly half of its population of >! million stills lives below the poverty lineas measured by income, consumption, and ability to meet basic human needsmaking Bangladesh one of the poorest countries in the world. Poverty reduction in the $$"s was due in large part to strong, sustained economic growth, but another significant factor was government investment in the areas of health,

education, social safety nets, and support for microcredit programs, which provide poor people with loans for the creation of small business enterprises. /he *""! 'ousehold 1urvey found that #"A of the population was below the * ** calorie threshold. /his compares with !$A in $$ , the baseline year for the poverty 345 in Bangladesh. Prospects for achieving the 5oal of halving this figure to *$A by *" ! may have been set back by events since *""!. In addition to external shocks relating to food prices and global economic recession, Bangladesh has suffered a se2uence of natural disasters, notably Byclone 1idr in *""C. /he countryDs measure of poverty is so sensitive to the price of food that the Bentre for Policy 4ialogue, a 4haka think,tank, has estimated that the increase in food prices in *""C="% added %.!A of the population to the ranks of the poor. /he profile of poverty in Bangladesh is uneven, the most severe deprivation being found in the southern coastal belt and in the northern monga regions prone to seasonal food shortages. /he capital, 4haka, is believed to be the fastest expanding and most densely populated of the worldDs ma(or cities. In common with other Bangladeshi cities, informal slum areas accommodate as much as a third of the urban population, imposing a new and challenging dimension for poverty reduction. 1ince the *""C crisis, the government has responded with increasingly robust expenditure on a wide range of cash and food,based social safety net schemes. 'owever, inefficiencies of bureaucracy and corruption have (eopardi-ed the targeting of this spending. )s few as >A of the poorest households may be in receipt of benefits intended for their welfare. In an unprecedented acknowledgement of its shortcomings, the government devoted the opening chapter of its *""$ 345 Progress <eport to the sub(ect of 64emocratic 5overnance and 'uman <ights.7 )nd the current 9ational 1trategy for )ccelerated Poverty <eduction &*""$,*" + concedes that 6unless governance improves, poor people will continue to suffer.7 Declining Poverty RatesBut Little Change in !solute "u#!er of Poor /he tables below show the changes over the last decade, both in percentage and in total number of people living below BangladeshDs upper and lower poverty lines, as determined by income and consumption levels. /hose living below the upper poverty line cannot consistently meet their basic human needs, while those living below the lower poverty line live in extreme deprivation.

Bontinuation of this progress is facing daunting challenges, however. Incomplete national reforms in areas such as health, electricity, and banking, and increasing losses by government,owned enterprises, are threatening both government budgets and national economic growth. ) lack of public confidence in the integrity and efficiency of the country's political and administrative institutions is hindering healthy economic activity, and a population growth rate which remains unsustainable is threatening to erode past progress. :or Bangladesh to continue on its current path of reducing poverty and improving living conditions, it will need to sustain macroeconomic growth at levels higher than in the pastE reform public institutionsE improve social servicesE and make stronger efforts to increase participation in the economy by the country's poorest people.

$eeting "ew Challenges Fhile the percentage of Bangladesh's total population living in poverty has been reduced, the absolute number of people living in poverty has changed little over the decade because of continued population growth. 'ome to >! million people, Bangladesh is currently the eighth most populous country in the world with the highest population densitynearly $!" people per s2uare kilometer. /he current annual population growth rate of .! percentwhile commendable and lower than rates in the neighboring countries of India and Pakistanis still not low enough to allow significant overall poverty reduction &see charts to the left+. Population growth has the potential to erode progress in provision of social services, and significant reforms at the national level are needed to ensure ade2uate coverage. )s of *""", only #! percent of Bangladeshis were considered literate, and an estimated *! percent of . to " year,olds were not in school. 3alnutrition and maternal mortality rates are still among the highest in the world, and at least one in three mothers in Bangladesh gives birth without ever having seen a health practitioner.

Ine2uality in Bangladesh has increased, particularly in urban areas, with incomes growing much faster for some households than for others. 'ad recent growth been more broad,based, the cumulative decline in poverty would have been much greater than the nine percentage point drop. In *""", among the poorest *" percent of the population, four out of five owned less than half an acre of land, and landlessness has been increasing in rural Bangladesh. Indications are that Bangladesh's economy has slowed recently, when it needs to expand significantly to maintain the poverty reduction momentum. 5overnment fiscal deficits rose to . percent of 54P in fiscal year *"" , financed in large part by higher domestic bank and non,bank borrowing. /he losses of state,owned enterprises were on average e2uivalent to >" percent of budgetary spending on health and education during the $$"s. Bontinued high losses could precipitate a fiscal crisis that would (eopardi-e the macroeconomic stability of the past decade. In such a situation, the poor are the most likely to lose benefits due to resulting budget cuts. /he government has begun making efforts to reverse these losses. Loo%ing head G:or Bangladesh to meet its poverty reduction goals, it must grow its economy faster than it ever haswith an annual average 54P growth rate of at least . percent,G said 1alman Haidi, a Forld Bank senior economist for Bangladesh. G/hat may seem like a tall order, but it is possible, as long as the country maintains consistency of commitment and effort.G Haidi pointed to the example of ?ietnam, which has per capita 54P and population growth rates similar to Bangladesh and which maintained an average annual 54P growth rate of %.# percent per year from $$* to $$%. /o strengthen its fiscal situation, Bangladesh would need to reform, and in many cases privati-e, state,owned enterprise to free resources for public interventions in the areas of education, health, and other essential services. Broad,based, accelerated economic expansion could effectively propel scores of millions of Bangladeshis out of poverty in the next do-en years or so if policies designed to stimulate growth also focus on expanding economic opportunities for Bangladesh's poor people, helping them to maximi-e the earning power of their current assets and to increase their holdings. Because most of Bangladesh's poor people live in rural areas, accelerated agricultural growth through raising productivity of the workers and diversifying crops is a priority, along with improving the operation of land markets and further developing fisheries and livestockimportant assets for the landless.

1upport for growth of non,farm, rural economic activitiessuch as manufacturing, construction, and white collar (obsis also important, as is increasing access to services such as microcredit to support establishment and expansion of small enterprises. 1ince good health and higher education levels have been shown to directly and positively impact income levels, increased and better targeted investments in these areas, with a focus on reaching the poorer, underserved population, are necessary. 02ually important is the government's responsibility to create and maintain an enabling environment to raise economic returns on private assets. If farms and firms cannot operate profitably because of macroeconomic instability, poor infrastructure, or bureaucratic harassment, increasing people's ability to accumulate private assets will bring only limited benefits. 3aintaining macroeconomic stability and improving governance are essentialin particular, increasing accountability of public officials and institutions and reversing the deteriorating law and order situation in the country. 0xtensive reform of the state,owned financial institutions is needed to make them better conduits of credit to the poor, and reduction of the level of leakage from various food assistance programs is urgently needed. /he 5overnment has recently taken important corrective measures to reduce the budget deficit, and is developing a medium,term macroeconomic framework to move it to a more sustainable level. In addition, a number of specific measures to increase accountability have begun and could be expanded, including use of monitoring tools such as survey,based assessments, public expenditure tracking surveys, and citi-en report cards.

Chapter: The rate of literacy in Bangladesh:


Overview In Bangladesh, education levels remain relatively lowE although they have improved recently as poverty &> A at *" "+ levels have decreased &Prothom )lo, % )pril *" +. /he literacy rate in Bangladesh rose to !..!A in *""$. /here is some gender disparity, though, as literacy rates are .*A among men and ! A among women, according to a *""% 89IB0: estimate &'uman 4evelopment <eport, *""$,894P+. )mong the most successful literacy programs are the :ood for education &::0+ introduced in $$>, &)hmed, )E B del 9ino, *""*+. and a stipend program for women at the primary and secondary levels. Literacy &tatus in Bangladesh /his chapter presents the overall literacy scenario of the population of age years and above and categori-ing the respondents according to the # levels of literacy skills mentioned earlier based on the @iteracy )ssessment 1urvey findings. /he level of literacy by gender and stratum across rural and urban areas are also presented. )dult literacy status for the population ! years and above is also presented in a separate section. )s mentioned before, four levels of literacy were measured. )ccording to the @iteracy )ssessment 1urvey *""% of Bangladesh Bureau of 1tatistics &BB1+, among all respondents more than !" percent &!".>A+ were illiterate and #$.C percent were literate. :urther classification shows that about >#.* percent were non,literate and .. percent semi,literate. :our levels of literacy were defined as the following based on their competencies in literacy skillsI . 9on,literateI @ack of ability to recogni-e and write alphabets, words, and numbers. <espondents in this category may score maximum up to *#.$$. *. 1emi,literateI )bility to recogni-e and write some simple words, to count ob(ects, and numbers at a very basic level. <espondents in this category scores between *!."" to #$.$$. >. @iterate at the initial levelI )bility to read and write sentences, possessing skills of four basic rules of arithmetic and limited use of literacy skills. <espondents in this category scores between !"."" to C#.$$. #. @iterate at the advance,levelI )bility to read and write fluently, competency in four arithmetic rules, ability to use the skills in everyday life. <espondents in this category scores between C!."" to "".

;ut of these four levels of literacy skills, only two levels , @iterate at initial level and @iterate at advance,level have been considered as literates. Fhile other methods of determining literacy rate, such as self,declaration used in census and household level surveys, may include the semi,literates in the group of literates. /he @iteracy )ssessment 1urvey *""% found &BB1, *""%+ overall literacy rate #$.C percent for population years and over. :or the population over !J age groups, the literacy rate is found to be #%.% percent. /he difference between male and female literacy rates is small, where male #%.. percent and female #$. percent. :emale literacy rate for the first time surpassed male literacy rate, which may be considered as the impact of several gender sensitive programmes undertaken by the government and other agencies. :ollowing are the summary of some key findings from the @iteracy )ssessment 1urvey *""%I . <ural literacy rate &#C. percent+ is found to be much lower than that of urban areas &!%. percent+. 'owever, a sharp decrease in literacy of urban adult males is observed. In *""!, literacy rate for urban males was .*.C percent, which now stands at !..C percent. *. )dvanced level literacy &>".* percent+ is found higher compared to initial level literacy & %.. percent+ in both rural and urban areas. >. Proportion of population at different levels of literacy varies across rural and urban areas of six administrative divisions.@iteracy level of adults & !J years+ is highest in Bhittagong &!#.% percent+ and lowest in 1ylhet &#>.$ percent+. #. /he scores of respondent &maximum possible score was "" and minimum "+ reveal relatively skewed distribution. /he mean and median score at the national level is #$ for both male and female respondents. !. /he literacy rate &literate initial and literate advance+ for follows I 1ex 3ale :emale /otal <ural ! .!A !>.CA !*..A 8rban .#.CA C"..A .C.%A , # years population are as /otal !#.CA !C.CA !..*A

.. <ural ,8rban different is big while male female different is small. C. 3ore than #% percent adults & !J years+ are literate. 3ale ,:emale different is small, while rural urban different is remarkably big. 4istribution among rural,urban and male female is as followsI

1ex 3ale :emale /otal

<ural #.. #..C #..#

8rban !..C !C. !..$

/otal #%.. #$. #%.%

:or the age groups, the literacy rate is the highest for , # years age group &!%.C percent+E which gradually decreases with age. /he literacy rate is nearly #" percent for population aged .! and above. /he adult literacy rate of urban non,3uslims is significantly higher compared to urban 3uslimsE .!.% percent as against !... percent. In rural areas, the difference is minimum. ) strong relationship is observed between level of formal education and level of adult literacy. /he level increases from >.% percent for adults completing grade to #$.# percent or adults completing grade # and "" percent completing grade $. /he adult literacy rate is strongly correlated with wealth status of the respondent. /he higher the wealth score, the higher is the literacy status./he difference among social groups is spectacularly high in urban areas. Increase in adult literacy rate since *""* is encouraging. /he adult literacy rate was >%.% percent in *""* and it reached #%.% percent in *""%, increasing annually by !.!! percent during *""!,*""%. If this rate of growth &!.!!A+ per annum continues then the adult literacy rate in *" ! would be around C .* percent. /he ma(or contribution to higher growth rate came from the increasingly higher growth rates in female literacy. /he rural adult literacy rate has been increasing while urban adult literacy rate has been decreasing due mainly to gradual decrease at urban male adult literacy, which may be explained by less targeted programmes for adult illiterates in the urban areas. <egional variation calls for identification of factors for low level of literacy in many geographic locations and implementing interventions for such areas. )lthough some progress has been made, the adult literacy rate is still low for Bangladesh. 'owever, if the present trend continues, then $! percent literacy rate would be attained by *"*". )lthough the gender parity has already been achieved, special attention should be paid to adult males in urban areas as the literacy rate tend to be declining. 0ducation is the ma(or contribution to literacy. 0xpanded opportunities for male and female in vocational pursuits would further increase literacy and their contribution to national development.

Poverty situation remains a big threat to increase the literacy rate. /he poverty issue has to be addressed as a necessary support to literacy. 1chool environment and facilities need to be up,graded to entice the poor children having apathy to school education. /o accelerate the growth of literacy, mere increase of access to education is not enough. 3ore emphasis and efforts are needed to ensure 2uality of education so that all primary school graduates turn out to be literate, whereas at present #" percent remain illiterates even after completing primary education.

"ew education policy to tac%le poor literacy rate: /he final draft of the 9ational 0ducation Policy *""$ was formally submitted to Prime 3inister 1heikh 'asina by 0ducation 3inister 9urul Islam 9ahid on C 1eptember. 'e said that he hope that the government will be able to announce the new education policy by the end of 4ecember. /he policy will have to be mandated by the country's parliament, but is expected to win approval, since the current government dominates with almost four,fifths of the seats. It was developed by a .,member 9ational 0ducation Bommission, formed in )pril *""$, and which consulted widely. Bangladesh's adult literacy rate is at !*.! percent, while neighbouring India has a literacy rate of .!.* percent, according to 89 4evelopment Programme &894P+ *""% figures. /he development and implementation of a modern and efficient education policy has long been a source of public outrage in Bangladesh. 1ince the country's independence in $C , seven education commissions and committees have been formed, but none of the policies they created were implemented because of a lack of political will from governments of the day./he basic structure of the current policy has been in place since that year. 3odifications have been made, but a complete overhaul of the system has long been overdue, say education experts, who praised the fact that public opinion had been taken into account in the policy's formation. /he policy document is available on the 0ducation 3inistry's website, and an email address is provided for the public to send in their views until the end of this month. )ccording to most education specialists, one of the biggest shortcomings of the current policy is the lack of practical and technical training in the curricula, leaving students vocationally unprepared. G/he education system of our country doesn't e2uip the students with practical knowledge. /his 'bookish' learning system is archaic, and needs to be updated according to the needs of a modern society,G said well,known educationist and former government adviser <asheda K. Bhoudhury. )nother ma(or concern is the lack of proper human resource development and deployment in the education sector. ) dearth of proper teacher training facilities has long been a source of concern.

'ey policy ele#ents ;ne of the key proposed changes will see total schooling years increased from " to *. /his includes the extension of free, mandatory primary school education by three years to a total of eight years. /he policy will establish mandatory core sub(ects for primary,level educationI Bangla, 0nglish, mathematics, Bangladesh 1tudies, social environment and climate change, and information technology and science. Bangladesh's religious education system, where Lmadrasahs' or Islamic schools focus primarily on Islamic teachings, will also be moderni-ed to reinforce the importance of science and information technology in their curricula. ) girl's right to education will also be a primary concern of the new policyE while there will be efforts to ensure indigenous children can learn in their own languages.

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