Overview
The Bangladesh Bible Society (BBS) is seeking to reach preschool-aged children with the word of God through a literacy course in the rural and remote areas of Bangladesh.
There are more than 172 million people in Bangladesh, and approximately 26% of the population are children. A large percentage of people live in rural areas and children are prevented by distance from attending pre-schools. In later schooling, their lack of familiarity with the national Bengali language means attaining literacy is challenging.
In Bangladesh, tribal children all start school in the Bengali language even though they speak in their mother tongue. Some of these tribes do not even have their language in written form, so learning literacy in Bengali is the only option.
These children need to be taught at a younger age, so that they can gain a basis in education which will help them when they begin their primary school education, or catch up on the studies they have missed due to language difficulties at national schools.
Statistics
- 172 million people in Bangladesh
- 74% of the population are functionally literate
- 26% of the population are children