Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni on Saturday said the government will give special importance to e-learning activities in education policy in the impact of coronavirus pandemic.
“In the wake of 4th industrial revolution, we must go for e-learning in next five to six to 5 years. Our resilience and adoptability level are high that becomes a catalyst to face challenges. Since people in Bangladesh are technology-friendly we have managed to spread online education across the country” she said.
Dipu Moni made the remarks while addressing a webinar titled “Popularizing effective e-learning system in a new normal post-pandemic situation needs infrastructure development including high speed internet bandwidth, quality and demand-driven online content and policy revision”. Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) organized the event.
The minister said that government will revise the existing Education Policy soon considering the ‘new-normal’ of the post-Covid-19 situation. “Online education will be transform into blended education,” she added.
Dipu Moni further said, in the long run, people will opt for online education for skilling re-skilling and up-skilling.
“So, we need to foresee the need for next 20 to 30 years. We have seen a paradigm shift in education system and online education and degrees are now essential,” she said adding focus on research and innovation at tertiary level is must.
The minister said that vocational education sees a 17 percent student enrollment and it’s on the rise.
DCCI President Shams Mahmud delivered the welcome remarks.
He said, “According to UNESCO, 1.37 billion students are deprived of education worldwide due to Covid-19. A possibility of e-learning has been emerged in the new- normal situation following a great disruption.”
Bangladesh, however, stands far behind than other nations in the South Asia in terms of internet access and infrastructure. “We need to develop infrastructure and quality online content for an effective e-learning system. If we can create educational content in Bengali as per the industry demand businesses and economy will get diversified benefits in the long run,” he added.
The DCCI chief recommended including e-learning in the National Education Policy to make popular in Bangladesh as well as developing necessary infrastructure including ensuring nationwide high speed internet.
VAT and surcharge on internet usages should be lowered, Shams demanded.
Vice Chancellor of National University Prof Dr Harun-or-Rashid said that the pandemic is a wake-up call for us to think about e-learning.
Online education can accommodate more students in a blended teaching approach, he said stressing the restructure to education system and curriculum.
Chairman of Bangladesh Technical Education Board Dr Md Morad Hossain Mollah said, “We need to create curriculum driven by industry demand and work out how we can continue e-learning in post-pandemic period.
Former Vice President of DCCI M Abu Horairah, Former Vice President of DCCI Riyadh Hossain, Professor of North South University Dr Mohammad Istiaq Azim, Professor of United International University Dr Khawza Iftekhar Uddin Ahmed, also spoke on the occasion.
