WITH traditional classroom learning coming to a complete halt, the pandemic compelled the government to take measures like promoting students to the next class without having them sit for final exams. It also caused many private schools, especially kindergartens, to close down for good. But the pandemic has also become a catalyst for educational institutions worldwide to search for innovative solutions in a relatively short period. In Bangladesh too, online learning and recorded lessons were adopted to make up for educational losses. Such efforts to reach students staying home seem to have been successful to a greater extent in urban areas, but a lack of digital devices and poor internet connections disrupted the learning process of many rural students.
The coronavirus crisis exposed the fact that a majority of schools, colleges and universities were not equipped to take online classes — a new reality for the country’s educational system. Private schools were quick to adopt online learning methods, offering lectures delivered via video conferencing apps like Zoom. However, a lack of infrastructure and uneven access to internet and devices such as a desktop computer, laptop, or smartphone for students in poor urban areas are vital obstacles to virtual learning. To address the disruption, the government started broadcasting live and recorded lectures through Sangsad TV for secondary and primary students, and directed all schools, colleges and universities to hold online classes.
Educationists say it is high time the government introduced “blended learning”, combining online education and traditional face-to-face classroom teaching. The institutions should also continue airing recorded lessons and other remote learning methods alongside in-person classes because this shift can keep students away from private tuitions, coaching centres and guidebooks. But they stressed the need for minimising the disparity between rural and urban students in accessing online learning facilities. Interim arrangements can hardly bridge the gap as many students from rural and poor families are not being able to access distance learning due to lack of devices like smartphones and computers. The government needs to ensure digital devices and access to all in order to cope with the new reality as well as to reduce the digital divide.
