Today, September 8, 2026, is International Literacy Day. This year’s theme, “Literacy for People, Planet and Prosperity,” raises a fundamental question: What is literacy? Can merely knowing how to read a few words or sign one’s name contribute meaningfully to human welfare, global progress and prosperity? Clearly not. Before pursuing the goals of International Literacy Day, we must first understand what literacy truly means.
Literacy is not an arbitrary concept; it is a defined and evolving one, shaped over time by UNESCO. In 1958, UNESCO defined a literate person as someone who could, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement related to everyday life. The 1978 definition introduced the broader concept of functional literacy, linking reading, writing and calculation to effective participation in one’s community and to personal and social development. Today, literacy is understood as a continuum involving the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute information in different contexts.
Now consider Bangladesh. While UNESCO’s broader understanding of literacy encompasses reading, writing, interpretation and the practical application of numeracy, Bangladesh generally measures literacy by the ability to read and write a simple four-line paragraph and perform basic calculations. Bangladesh traditionally applies this criterion to people aged seven and above, whereas international statistics generally use 15 and above for adult literacy. Can a seven-year-old realistically meet the broader dimensions of literacy, including interpretation, observation, review and decision-making? UNESCO estimates that at least 739 million adults worldwide still cannot read and write. Those who can barely read or merely sign their names are also counted among them.
According to the latest government figures, Bangladesh’s literacy rate is 77.9 percent among people aged seven and above. Using the international age criterion, the rate among those aged 15 and above is 74.9 percent. Yet these figures are not measured against UNESCO’s broader understanding of literacy.
So, what level of education is required to acquire those abilities? SSC? HSC? Or graduation? I leave that answer to the readers. Rather than prolong the discussion, let us look at a single set of figures—
According to the final report of the 2022 Population and Housing Census by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, only 28 percent of Bangladesh’s population has completed Class Five! Those who have completed Class Eight account for 19.80 percent!! SSC passers account for just 11.30 percent!!! HSC or equivalent, 7.40 percent!!!! Graduates/degree holders and above, only 4.80 percent!!!!!
By Salam Abu
Editor
