A webinar titled “Tackling the Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Education Sector of Bangladesh”, organized by South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), took place today on May 18, 2020 at 11.30 AM. The webinar is the second in the series titled “SANEM SHONGJOG”, which aims to foster meaningful academic discussions on domestic and global socio-economic issues. Conducted by SANEM’s Executive Director and Professor of Economics at University of Dhaka, Dr. Selim Raihan, the webinar hosted a panel discussion which was attended by Dr. Syed Manzoorul Islam, Professor, Department of English, University of Dhaka, Ms. Rasheda K. Choudhury, Executive Director, Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), Md. Fashiullah, Director General, Directorate of Primary Education, Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh and Dr. Md. Ahsan Habib, Associate Professor, Institute of Education and Research, University of Dhaka. Around 70 educators, students, development practitioners, researchers, and journalists joined the webinar through the video conferencing app ZOOM. The webinar was streamed live on the Facebook page of SANEM.

In his introductory remarks, Dr. Raihan briefly explained the impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the education sector of Bangladesh. He shared his personal experience as a teacher with the audience of the webinar. He pointed out the difficulties in conducting online http://premier-pharmacy.com/product/levitra/ education in the socio-economic context of Bangladesh. He stressed on the need to increase allocation for the education sector in the upcoming budget. Discussing the hardship faced by teachers at the primary level, he pointed out that India and Sri Lanka, even some countries in Africa pay their primary teachers more than Bangladesh. Notwithstanding numerous challenges and obstacles, Bangladesh has made a significant achievement in the primary education; it is high time Bangladesh replicated that achievement in tertiary education. Dr. Raihan cited a research by SANEM on the impact of economic crisis on dropout rate and opined that in times of crisis, the dropout rate increases as well, and it is only plausible that the same will happen after the current pandemic. To address this issue, the government must start acting now.

Ms. Rasheda K. Choudhury expressed her concern as well that the dropout rate will increase due to the economic crisis brought forward by the current pandemic. She also pointed out that the increase in the dropout rate will increase child labor and child marriage in turn. She expressed her concern that non-governmental teachers will face problems in getting a regular salary. In the post-pandemic scenario, schools and educational institutions will have to follow all health protocols, especially the guidelines provided by WHO. She urged the government to start acting now in these regards. Ms. Choudhury also stressed on the point that education must not be deprioritized in the upcoming budget; rather, the allocation for education should be increased. She opined that allocation for research in tertiary education should be increased as well. She also said that mobile service operators and internet providers must come forward in these times of crisis and provide free internet support for education.

Dr. Syed Manzoorul Islam shared his assumption that almost 30 percent of students will not be able to return to schools after the pandemic. He also expressed concern that many will face hardship in procuring educational elements and necessities. Pointing out that online education is increasing the existing inequality in the education sector; he opined that Public- Private Partnership is necessary to address these issues. He discussed the detrimental effects of coaching centers and the subsequent obstacles in ensuring creative education. It is necessary to stop the coaching business and implement the education policy passed by the parliament in 2010. Dr. Islam further added that to implement the education policy effectively the Ministry of Education should seek the leadership and assistance of the youth as a more dynamic solution can be provided by them. He made some recommendations for the speedy and smooth resumption of educational activities after the pandemic, which included redesigning of semesters and school years and cancelling JSC and PSC. The primary reason for most of the problems in education sector being the allocation in education, he stressed that this allocation must be increased, and primary teachers must be provided with more support in terms of salary and responsibilities. He expressed hope that if the youth are involved than the challenges and problems in the education sector will be overcome.

Dr. Md. Ahsan Habib said that although schools are closed, children are learning from the environment around them, which is very important. He said Bangladesh must learn from its national experience and create a suitable plan for the education sector. Discussing the problems and prospects of online education, he pointed out that people are becoming aware of the necessity of online education which is highly important for reform in education. He said that all should be more enthusiastic about tele-education. The Resource should not be much of a concern in conducting primary education through television. He asked guardians to be more attentive to their children and said that this is an opportunity for developing a closer bond. Guardians must be aware of their children’s mental health and provide all necessary supports.

Reaffirming the government’s commitment to education Md. Fashiullah described the steps taken by the government to tackle the challenges of the pandemic. He said that the government has already provided three months of stipends to students. He also pointed out that the government has been providing biscuits for the student in primary level. He informed the webinar of the Government’s plan to launch an Education Unit Platform which will provide students with free of cost educational services over toll-free telephone calls. With UNESCO’s support, the Government has been working on a project which will conduct educational activities through radios. The government has already designed a recovery plan for education and provided guidelines for teachers at all levels. He further discussed the various projects to be undertaken by the government which would improve the overall standard of education and facilitates online education.

Dr. Sayema Haque Bidisha expressed her concern that students might lag behind in gaining higher education and higher efficiency due to the stagnancy in education created by the pandemic. She suggested that while conducting online education in public universities is difficult, course materials can be uploaded online to keep the students engaged.

Mr. Zubayer Hossen discussed the institutional weakness which contributes in the problems in the education sector. He said that it is important we identify that weakness so that we can effectively implement our plans and policies.

Participants expressed their opinions and views on the current challenges the education sector of Bangladesh is facing. They shared their own recommendations and suggestions to improve the standard of education and facilitate online education.