Child Equity Atlas - BIDS

Child Equity Atlas
3.1 Female Education
3.1.1 Bangladesh has made significant progress
in female education over generations, when
women aged 40-49 years are compared to women
aged 15-24 years. Two-thirds of women aged 40-
49 years have very little or no education, against
only one-fourth of young females (15-24 years)
with similar low levels of educational attainment
(Figure 3.1).
% of female
Figure 3.1: Educational attainment of female
aged 15-24 years and 40-49 years (%),
Bangladesh 2011
70.0
60.0
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
24.5
68.7
Never to
school &
primary
incomplete
age 15-24 years
25.6
16.3
Primary
completed
Level of
28.6
Secondary
incomplete
on
7.9
age 40-49 years
21.3
7.1
Secondary
completed &
more
This shows a positive inter-generational change
in attitude and practice towards education. A
similar pattern is shown when the proportion
of young (15-24 years) versus adult females (40-
49 years) who complete secondary or higher
educational levels are compared and contrasted
with 21.3 per cent of younger females attaining
higher education compared to only 7.1 per cent
of adult women. This confirms the significant
improvement in female education in the country
over the last couple of decades, a remarkable
achievement by Government and stakeholders
who have sustained commitment to the sector.
3.2 Adult Literacy
3.2.1 The adult literacy (15 years and above) rate
in Bangladesh has increased to 53 per cent in 2011
from 47.3 per cent in 2001 (Table 1.2 in chapter
one). The rate of change in adult literacy is low
with an increase of only 5.7 percentage points in
a decade, signifying a lost opportunity to harness
adult literacy into growth and development. There
are, however, sub-national variations in the adult
literacy rates (Figure 3.2), with Barisal division
having the highest proportion of adult literates
(58.5 per cent) and Rangpur division with the
lowest proportions (46.1 per cent). Adult literacy
rates by districts are presented in Maps 3.1 and
3.2 for 2001 and 2011, respectively. The adult
literacy rate is still lower for females (49.2 per
cent) than males (56.8 per cent). The variations
in adult literacy rates at district and upazila (subdistrict)
levels are presented in Maps 3.3 and 3.4
respectively.
Figure 3.2: Adult (15 years and above) literacy rate by administrative divisions,
Bangladesh 2011
Total Rural Urban
Literacy rate (15 years and
above) (%)
80.0
70.0
60.0
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
73.2
72.1
67.8
68.8
69.5
65.3
63.8
58.5
63.9
55.4 55.9 55.7 51.7 46.8 53.6 50.1 53.0
47.8 47.5
43.8 46.1 43.2 46.6 43.2
Barisal Chiagong Dhaka Khulna Rajshahi Rangpur Sylhet Total
30