Gazi Md. Abdur Rashid :
Coronavirus outbreaks have already had a negative impact on the country’s education system. The government has already decided to shut down the public and private institutions, as well as the educational institutions upto April 25, in three phases to prevent the Coronavirus outbreak. Since the month of Holy Ramzan will begin soon, there is no possibility of opening educational institutions until Eid ul Fitr.
Due to the closure of the educational institutes, there has been an intense frustration among the students, teachers, parents and education administrators. Now the enthusiasm is working among the concerned about how the students will complete their scheduled syllabus, how they will manage such a huge education gap. The impact on students has been affected by the closure of educational institutions for such a long time. As like-
1. Students are gradually losing special interest in their studies;
2. A kind of laziness has been created among the learners;
3. Students are reluctant to read books because of lack of contact with the teachers;
4. Being locked in a house for a long time has created a kind of frustration among the students;
5. A thought has arisen among the students on how they will finish their syllabus;
6. Students are more inclined to obey their teachers’ instruction advice than parents, so they are now spending a lot of time without guidance;
7. As students are no longer obliged to attend school at the right time, their time is now being passed at random;
8. Because students are not attached to the educational institutions, they are also being deprived of the school-centric facilities. Particularly educational environment, internal discipline of the school, guidance of teachers, sports etc.
The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) has already started a program named ‘Amar Ghoree Amar School’ in Sangsad Television which is, of course, a very positive action step. Through this system, students are encouraged deeply to continue their education. But there is also the problem a little bit in this system; Sound is not understood clearly during broadcast of class activities, the routine is also seen in some inconsistency. Moreover, it is not feasible to capture the attention of the students as the program is broadcast on only one channel. There are currently 30 private TV channels in Bangladesh. Almost every student in the country would have benefited from this if all the channels had been broadcast this program on a specific time period. Students could incorporate this activity as an alternative education system. Consequently, as a normal process, students could complete their specific syllabus and participate in all school examinations with the very confidant.
Like other countries around the world, we can pay more attention to online education. We can also keep our students engaged in the learning process through online education programs. Whatever the situation, the students cannot be kept out of the education system in any way. Since students are the future contributors of the nation, the process of education must be continued through alternative process without worrying about their future.
Our present Education Minister, Deputy Education Minister and Education Secretary are very gentle and richly educated personalities with modern ideas. We believe that we will see an effective step in combining these three scholars in the positive change of the education system, and in the interest of keeping students’ education activities going on during this critical time of the nation which has already been arisen due to coronavirus pandemic.
(Gazi Md. Abdur Rashid, Research Officer, District Education Office (Secondary), Munshiganj)
