By A K M Mahbubul Alam

Readers have by now become bothered of hearing about decisions regarding HSC examination and upcoming admission tests. Teachers and staffs of some leading private universities and nationwide known colleges and schools have experienced shady characters of many owners of these institutions in the country.

However, the irreparable loses caused by the pandemic in the education sector not only affect the students but also affect teachers, staffs and guardians. It is manifested that the pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of children, less to the virus, but much more to the indirect and long-term fall out.  
 



Covid-19 is first and foremost a health crisis all over the world. It's a new virus and we are learning about how it affects children. The pandemic has disrupted the education sector globally. Classes have been suspended to ensure social distance and educational institutions, from schools to universities, have shifted to online methods of teaching. As the number of cases continues to rise, there is no certainty about when normalcy will be restored. This has encouraged some sort of permanent tilt, if not a complete shift, to online education.

Global shutdown of educational institutions causes a major interruption in student's learning. In this context, it is burning question how students can be safe from the spread of this virus. Education across the country has got severely affected because of COVID-19 pandemic. The situation has posed many fundamental decisions on whether this is time to start new venture and close down existing one? Or wait for good time to come? It is possible for people of any age to be infected with the virus. So far, children under the age of 18 years have been reported few cases to be infected, with relatively few deaths compared to other age groups. The virus tends to be severe among adults with pre-existing medical conditions.

Challenges of education during pandemic

Challenges of education during pandemic

Hence, novel corona virus has made at least 35,78,384 pre-primary, 3,82,54,584 primary and 34,16,679 junior secondary school students out of formal classroom education in the country. The nationwide closures of educational institutions have impacted large number children in primary and secondary education as well as the students enrolled in universities. According to a UNICEF monitoring report, 186 countries are currently implementing nationwide closures and eight are implementing local closures, impacting about 98.5 per cent of the world's student population. According to Bangladesh Development Research Center (BDRC), there are 51.3 million children (ages 0-14 years) living in Bangladesh, of whom 24.9 million are girls and 26.4 million are boys. Fifteen million children live in city slums in Bangladesh, while on average 500,000 to 20, 00,000 children sleep on streets in the country.

Now, with the pressures of corona virus pandemic, the fabric of Bangladesh's higher education has become more strained: the prospects of lower revenues has already forced some private schools and universities to slash budgets and can lead to waves of closings. The main education system of Bangladesh is divided into three categories. These are - Primary level, secondary level and tertiary level. Three phases of child education are also found through schooling. There are also large number of colleges and universities in the country.

There are 53 public universities in the country funded by government. There are also 105 private universities self-financed and large number of government and private colleges in the country. There is no more face to face formal classroom education, because the educational institutions have been closed during this pandemic. The usual face to face classes have been replaced by online classes so that students can continue their studies. In many countries, TV channels, Google classroom and many other platforms have been considered as useful medium of education. Bangladesh television is broadcasting lessons for primary and secondary students.

Lessons or lectures are being prepared by the respective teachers of colleges or universities and they are trying to reach the students through Face book or Zoom, but it is not the same for all educational institutions. Students can not avail themselves of the opportunity to meet teachers.

It may be difficult for all universities to come up with their own education software system, because it is time-consuming as it demands huge investment and expert workforce. Therefore, if we can create educational software under the patronage of the government, the ministry of education, e-Learning experts and the University Grant Commission (UGC), then all universities will come under one direction which will be linked with the respective university websites.


 




However, online education in Bangladesh is still out of reality for various constraints in relation to resources insufficiency and lack of preparation. In the context of current new normal, education system is now out of reach of rural students due to unavailability of internet. Hence, for running the educational activities amidst this extraordinary situation, all students should have access to internet. Now, there may have a question on the accessibility of internet by every citizen everywhere in the country. Available access of internet in rural areas is mandatory to facilitate online classes. Simultaneously, low cost of internet should be ensured.
 

The writer is trustee, Ishakha International University and, Assistant Professor, WKC