President Abdur Rahman Biswas yesterday urged the people, irrespective of their political affiliation and Ideals, to join the integrated literacy programme for achieving 'education for all by the year 2000'.

"This should be considered a programme of the state, not of the government. The government may change but the state is ours. So. all of us should take it as a national programme," President Biswas told the audience at the packed Osmany Memorial Hall auditorium.

This was the main function of the country-wide programmes arranged Im conpec-

tlon with the International ■Literacy Day, 1994. Infor-matipn Minister Nazmul Huda was a special guest.

The President said, dropouts from schools was the main obstacle to attaining universal literacy. The number of dropouts has gone down since the present government took up the food-for- education programme.

Introduction of the programme led to a rise in school enrolment by 14 per cent.

The programme of compul sory primary education also helped raise the enrolment, the President said.

"Still, nearly 5.5 crore of Ilie population above the age of seven remain uneducated ." he regretted.

President Biswas said, the allocation for the education sector rose upto 16.25 per cent, of which 50.74 per cent Is being spent for primary education.

Identifying illiteracy as the main obstacle to development, he said, the main thrust should be given to the mass education sector.

A former chairman of the Bangladesh Public Service Commission S M Al-Husainy presented the key-note paper. A former presidential adviser Azizul Huq. scientist Abdullah Al-Muti Sharfuddin and editor of The Daily Star Mahfuz Anam took part in the discussion.

Executive Director of the non-formal education project. Khandaker Shahidul Islam and Joint Secretary S M Shamsul Alam also spoke on the occasion.

Information Minister Nae-mul Huda said, there is no alternative to spreading education by raising mass literacy.

The minister said, steps were being taken to air elaborate programmes through radio and television to create social awareness of the curse of illiteracy. Newspapers and other mass media were also playing a vital role for motivating the people to come forward for promotion of education.' he added.

Saying that without social awareness no programme could attain success.lie underscored the need for a social movement for eradication of illiteracy from the national life. He called upon the educationists. intelligentsia, journalists and other conscious sections of the society to contribute in building Bangladesh as one of the prosperous countries of this region by the end of 2000.

Barrister Huda said that mere formal observance of the day would be meaningless unless we could take a firm vow to adopt appropriate measures to free the country from the curse of illiteracy, hunger and poverty.

S M Al-Husainy in his keynote paper "Education First for the Development of Bangladesh" emphasised thq need for a political commitment for eradicating illiteracy.

"There must be a consensus among the political parties on some vital issues. " he said, adding that "the political parties have given education priority in their party manifestoes but that is not reflected in their activities.”

He said, the literacy rate rose to 24.8 per cent in 1994 which was 9.4 per cent in 1931.

He also said the campaign for mass literacy was not gaining momentum. If this situation continues we will not be able to reach the target, he added.

Editor of The Daily Star Mahfuz Anam painted a grim picture of the education sector.

He said. 86.per cent of the total allocation for the sector was being spent on salaries of the teachers, seven per cent

for school furniture, three per cent on books and only one per cent on teachers' training and supervision. The rest Is spent on miscellaneous expenses. ,

"The allocation In the education sector means we are only paying salary to some teachers." he added.

He said the success of some private sector schools depends on supervision.

Anam said, the academic year of a Bangladeshi student is one-third compared to a student in China and nearly half that of a student in Sri Lanka.

He felt that the political parties should engage in a constructive competition for development.

If the major political parties like the BNP and the Awamt League took mass literacy as their party programme, they must get support from the media and the whole scenario would be changed, he added.

He also said, if- an MP declares that nobody in his constituency would remain illiterate. then the programme would succeed within a short period.

Abdullah Al-Muti Sharfuddin said, there should be more budgetary allocation for the education sector. He said currently the government allocates only 2 per cent of the GDP to the education sector, which is much higher in some neighbouring countries.

Azizul Huq said the people were now ready for a massmovement for education.

Later. President Abdur Rahman Biswas distributed prizes among 32 persons for their contributions to the success of primary and mass education.