A Tk 128 crore project is planned to introduce sustainable digital teaching contents, create equal opportunities for all students and ensure hygienic environment (health safety) in primary schools.
The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education is going to undertake the initiative under the project titled, ‘Bangladesh Covid-19 School Sector Response’ so that primary students do not face any risk of transmitting (corona) infection while attending schools, authorities concerned said.
All public and non-government primary schools and kindergartens remain shut to protect students from coronavirus infection.
As a result of being closed for a long time, government schools have gathered dust and may also have become unhygienic.
At present, at least 17,338,100 students are studying in some 1,34,148 primary schools. Of these, 65,620 are public or state-owned schools.
Apart from maintaining hygiene, the project will also focus on improving quality of teaching in the public schools, officials said.
The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) will provide US$ 15 million or about Tk 128 crore for the implementation of this project and the rest will come from the state exchequer. The project will be implemented by June 2022.
About the project, Md Ruhul Amin, Joint Secretary Development of Primary and Mass Education Ministry told Bangladesh Post, “There will be digital content for all subjects from 1st grade to 5th grade students. These digital contents will be downloaded and displayed in multimedia classes. As a result, students will be able to learn their lesson without any difficulties.”
He also said, “We have given utmost importance in maintaining health hygiene and creating equal opportunities for all students so that the schools can be prepared for the pandemic period.”
“The project is not finalized yet. We have created the project plan. After finalizing and approving the project we will start implementing the project by end of September or early October. GPE will provide the fund as grant for the project, government will just provide salary of officials who will implement the project. Therefore, no additional cost is required from the government,” he added.
Ratan Chandra Pandit, Additional Secretary (Development) of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education told Bangladesh Post, “Schools have been closed for a long time due to Covid-19. It is a big challenge to reopen these schools after pandemic. Because there is a matter of cleanliness and hygiene we shall ensure health safety by implementing this project.”
Pandit also said, “We will also introduce digital technologies in giving lessons in the classes. Besides, in case of any future pandemic like Covid-19, steps will be taken to ensure that the student’s education is not hampered. Computers and digital screens will be purchased in schools. Last year, it was supposed to purchase 26,000 computers but Covid-19 situation delayed the purchase. However, this time a total of 40,000 computers will be purchased.”
The secretary also said, “GPE will provide another US$ 5.4 million grant. With the help of this grant training of government teachers will be arranged. We want to improve the quality of education in government primary schools in line with the developed countries.”
