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Navigating the Challenges and Opportunities of Distance Learning in Bangladesh During COVID-19

Over 150 countries have been touched by the COVID-19 scourge, which has affected 2 billion schoolchildren around the world. As a result, many countries including Bangladesh have leaned towards some type of distance education, like Byju & Porai. During the early stages of COVID-19, the education reaction centered on creating remote learning modalities as a disaster response. These were estimated to hit all kids, but they did not always work. Education responses have evolved in tandem with the pandemic. In many areas, schools are now properly and thoroughly operational.

Distance learning encompasses online learning, remote education, e-learning, correspondence education, external studies, flexible learning, and massive open online courses. The teacher-learner isolation by place or time, or both, and the use of technology and media to facilitate contact and interaction during the education process despite this isolation are common aspects of any kind of online learning. Distance learning necessitates a high level of self-directed learning and study abilities on the side of the learner, which must be aided by new teaching, learning, and assistance methodologies.

From several perspectives, the success of distant learning systems is conditioned by levels of preparedness:

  • Technology availability is an essential but in an insufficient foundation for successful virtual learning: EdTech has been critical in allowing students to continue studying despite the school lockout, and it has opened up new possibilities for providing education on a large scale. The influence of technology on education, on the other hand, continues to be a problem. This combines both technological capabilities of e-learning platforms or TV and radio broadcasting systems to give curriculum courses distantly to all learners, as well as home access to power, phones, televisions, stereo, electronic devices, internet access, and data.
    • According to a report by UNICEF, around 463 million children worldwide lacked access to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic due to a lack of equipment and internet connectivity.
    • In Bangladesh, only around 14% of households have a computer, and only 13% have internet access, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
    • Some organizations have tried to address this issue by providing technology and internet access to students. For example, the Bangladesh NGO BRAC has provided tablets with preloaded educational materials to students in remote areas without internet access.
  • Material readiness: This refers to having access to national school curriculum teaching and learning resources that can be given via internet platforms, TV or radio programs, or utilized for print-based home learning. Curriculum content material that is ready for all grade levels and subject areas and can be presented to all students is often a struggle. Many nations lack the resources and local knowledge required to swiftly build national curriculum courses that may be accessed via internet platforms or television and radio broadcasts. 
    • The Bangladesh government launched a national TV channel called Sangsad TV to broadcast lessons for students from grades six to ten during the pandemic. However, not all students have access to TV or internet, so print-based materials have also been distributed. The Bangladesh government distributed textbooks to students' homes and created new materials for subjects that were not covered by the textbooks. However, there have been challenges in developing and distributing these materials, particularly in remote areas. For example, some students in the Chittagong Hill Tracts area reported not receiving any learning materials during the pandemic.
  • Why Educators are more important than ever before: Teachers play a key role regardless of the learning mode or accessible technology. Pre-service and ongoing teacher professional development must be consistent and effective. Support for the development of digital and pedagogic tools that may be used to educate successfully both online and in person. This includes teachers' responsibility to innovate and organize web - based learning, TV or radio-based distance learning, or physical materials-based home learning, as well as families' or caregivers' availability and ability to enable successful home-based distance learning. The majority of instructors are not appropriately prepared for the transformation of school education offering.
    • A survey of teachers in Bangladesh conducted by the organization Save the Children found that 61% of teachers felt they were not adequately prepared to deliver distance learning. To address this issue, some organizations have provided training and support to teachers. For example, the British Council provided online training for teachers in Bangladesh on how to deliver lessons online. However, some teachers still face challenges in adapting to new teaching methods. For example, a teacher in a rural area of Bangladesh reported struggling to teach online due to poor internet connectivity and a lack of training.
  • Teaching is a human contact-intensive endeavor: For remote education to be productive, it must allow for significant two-way communication between teachers and students; such connections can be accomplished by employing the most advanced equipment for the local environment. Teachers are responsible for managing the distance between new learning environments and providing remote monitoring. Remote delivery of education alters learning environments, resulting in physical and psychological isolation and distance between teachers and students, as well as between peers. Learners gain more flexibility in the new learning environments, but teachers forfeit some full control and supervisory chances. Encouraging and engaging instructors, parents, and guardians to offer frequent monitoring can help lessen feelings of disconnection and disengagement, as well as manage the norms and disciplines required for home-based schooling.
  • Parents as crucial instructors' collaborators: Parental engagement has helped to balance out some of the disadvantages of distant learning. As nations migrate to a more uniform blended learning model, measures that give direction to parents and provide them with the resources they need to support kids must be prioritized. Families, especially those with several children, are not prepared to coordinate and manage daily home-based learning. It's much more difficult when parents lack the language and literacy abilities, as well as the time, to keep up with school schedules and oversee learning processes.
    • According to a survey by BRAC, around 70% of parents in Bangladesh reported difficulty in supporting their children's learning during the pandemic.
      To settle this, some organizations have provided resources and support to parents. For example, Save the Children provided parents in Bangladesh with a guide on how to support their children's learning at home.
      However, some parents still face challenges in supporting their children's learning. For example, parents who are illiterate or do not speak the language of instruction may find it difficult to help their children with their schoolwork.
  • Leverage a dynamic ecology of cooperation: Ministries of Education must collaborate closely with various educational institutions (multilateral, public, private, academic) in order to successfully orchestrate diverse participants and ensure the overall quality of the learning experience. This includes the ability to monitor remote learning processes, track course access and participation, analyze learning results, and maintain instant distance learning reactions in order to meet long-term objectives. In the area of internet learning, it's vital to keep track of variances in student involvement and engagement, especially among students with poor self-control and organizing abilities. When one-way knowledge transmission technologies like TV or radio are used as the primary solution, determining how involved students, teachers, and parent or guardian are with remote learning becomes increasingly difficult.
    • In Bangladesh, the government collaborated with UNICEF and the World Bank to launch a mobile app called "Amar Ghore Amar School" to provide remote learning materials to students during the pandemic.
      But some experts have called for more collaboration between different organizations to address the challenges of distance learning. For example, a report by the organization Education Above All recommended that ministries of education collaborate with NGOs, civil society organizations, and the private sector to provide distance learning solutions during the pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly impacted the education sector and forced countries like Bangladesh to adopt distance learning methods to ensure students' continued education. While technology has been a critical enabler of distance learning, its impact on education continues to be a challenge. Successful distance learning systems require readiness in terms of technology, material, and the preparedness of educators and parents to manage the new learning environment. As such, it is crucial for governments and educational institutions to collaborate and invest in the development of effective and sustainable distance learning strategies that can ensure that no student is left behind. It is only through a collective effort that we can overcome the challenges posed by the pandemic and provide equitable and quality education to all.

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