Education is a process of learning to acquire knowledge and skills which eradicate the superstition and enlighten the human mind. A nation’s economic and mental growth depends on education; often measured by literacy rate. Since education is a right guaranteed by the constitution of Bangladesh, the State must take effective measures to institute a uniform and mass-oriented system in this regard and make sure the system is capable of implementing universal and compulsory education to all children (Article, 17). The fourth goal of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) expects the Bangladesh government to ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’. Therefore, the state must look beyond literacy rate and focus on the quality of education and inclusion of citizens irrespective of colour, sex, religion, caste, language and any other identity.
As per the instructions and guidelines of National Education Policy, 2010, Bangladesh government should allocate more money for marginalized people like ethnic groups, physically challenged children, street children and other ultra-deprived children for ensuring education for all. In this country, there are 45 ethnic communities who have 26 unique languages. We should provide all kinds of support for including them in our mainstream educational platform with respect towards their culture, heritage, language, custom, and religion. The government should give special priority on online education for them as most of them live in remote hills, valleys and even in woods of Chattogram Hill Tracts, Mymensingh, Sylhet, Rajshahi, and some other districts. The concerned departments of Bangladesh government should ensure affordable internet connectivity and smart devices with high internet speed for participating in the online education system.
Recently I attended a webinar titled “Covid-19 Integrated Social Development Thoughts and Expectations”, where I urged to the government for a timely measure to boost the country’s internet infrastructure and related services for promoting online education in the forthcoming budget and this pre-budget webinar held at liaison office of Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur on July 4, 2020. The government should step up proactively to address the new norms and needs introduced by Covid-19. The most effective way is to reprioritize government’s financing areas; therefore, the next budget is crucial. Boosting up the internet and other infrastructural facilities for education should be considered with equal importance as the government usually does towards the issue of education.
Since learning is a two-way process of giving and receiving knowledge, the government must invest to improve the situation from both ends; educational institutions and teachers at one end and the students or learners at the other end. A large number of teachers, especially the ones at the primary and secondary level will require rigorous training and follow up support to effectively operate learning programs online. Many teachers of the tertiary level also require training to cope up with online-based education system.
However, digital preparedness of educational institutions and teachers will never be enough to ensure the inclusion of all students. Inclusion should be the central concern of the government’s investment in the online education system. It will require maximum geographical coverage to connect students from remote places, cost-effective bandwidth and the availability of smart devices to reach the students from the economically marginalized background. Currently, internet packages in Bangladesh are too costly for many students. Even internet packages in Bangladesh are costlier than those of India. The government can intervene in the market to reduce the bandwidth price or subsidize it for the students.
The government needs to monitor public and private universities closely to utilize their graduate for the job market and reduce the unemployment rate. Moreover, we must rethink using current technology for further modernization of our education system. The concerned authority can create a linkage between industry and universities for funding online-based education system and research and address the challenge of unemployment due to Covid-19. The industries will adjust to this new normal situation during and after Covid-19 crisis; therefore, they may require newer skills which schools and universities can provide. It requires a well-coordinated and communicated effort of both the employers and educators.
Online and distance learning is a timely demand for the pandemic situation and the continuation of the learning process. The government should patronize who are working for the online education system in Bangladesh. Moreover, some government institutions and NGOs are getting support from the government which is not up to the mark for the desired standard we expect. Access to Information (a2i) and some other NGOs and voluntary organizations are working for online and distance learning. Some institutions and organizations pioneering online and distance learning include Bangladesh Open University (1992), Bangladesh Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Digital University, Bangladesh (2019), MuktoPaath (2016, a2i), 10 minute School (2015), Virtual Skills Development System (VSDS), Shikkhok.com, Shikkhok Batayan, Kishor Batayan, and so on. We should utilize their experiences in our pre-primary school to tertiary level institutions and bridge them to our online education system to make this transition smoother.
Recently, some national and international study reveals that mental health and psychological condition of human beings are deteriorating for the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. Young students are highly affected by this. Educational institutions need to prepare with counseling support for the students to ease their way through the trauma and uncertainty they face. Though some universities have counseling cells, we also need to introduce this at the primary and secondary level for reducing mental stress of pandemic in children and adolescents. Therefore, establishing the counseling cell must be a priority in the transformation of the education system induced by Covid-19 crisis.
Having a literacy rate of 73.9% for the ones aged fifteen and above, Bangladesh is lagging compared to some other South Asian countries like Bhutan and Maldives. However, this rate has been increasing over time, which indicates a trend of development. This development requires quality acceleration since the country has far to reach in terms of literacy rate since more than one-fourth of its citizens above fifteen are not literate. This development requires investment. Bangladesh’s Education budget did not cross from 2 to 3% of GDP since 1979. The latest budget puts it at the bottom compared to other South Asian countries. Considering the current crisis, the government must allocate 5% to 6% of our GDP to the education sector. More funding is required for research in microbiology to create new learnings about epidemics. Moreover, the government needs to monitor the education budget to ensure effective and efficient use of the fund for maximum output.
(Dr Saber Ahmed Chowdhury is Associate Professor, Department of Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Dhaka)
