Bangladesh's literacy rate reaches 61 percent

Bangladesh's literacy rate has reached 61 percent, an official said.

A report released on Sunday by Literacy Assessment Survey of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics came two days before 2015 International Literacy Day which falls on September 8.

"The literacy rate of the country has increased substantially during the tenure of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government," Xinhua quoted Bangladesh's Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman as saying.

He said the government has been striving hard through a number of projects to reduce dropout rates.

At least 13 million more poor primary school students will come under government's Primary Education Stipend Programme which is now covering around 7.8 million students.