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The focus will be on education in 2021

Published : Thursday, 7 January, 2021 at 12:00 AM  Count : 642

The focus will be on education in 2021

The focus will be on education in 2021

Goodbye 2020! Welcome to 2021! The year 2020 started with great enthusiasm in this country. It was decided to celebrate the "Mujib Borsho'' through various programs from March 17, 2020 to March 26, 2021. All sorts of preparations were made for the celebration of the "Mujib Borsho". But everything went awry in the unlucky hands of a pandemic named Covid-19.

A very difficult year has passed in the history of this country. In the recent past, people have never faced such a difficult test. While the country was moving forward in a calm but firm position with Vision-2021 in front of it, this claw of coronavirus gave a big shock to the overall progress. Fortunately, the Covid-19 in this country is relatively less dangerous than in many other parts of the world. As a result, the initial impact on the health system can be quickly recovered. However, due to the closure of factories for a long time, many people lose their jobs and production is affected.

The biggest impact of coronavirus comes on educational activities. Educational institutions have been closed since March. Although the government opened offices, courts, shops, industries and factories with some risk, it could not take the risk of opening educational institutions. At one stage, educational institutions decided to take online classes, but many students living in remote areas are being discriminated due to weak internet networks.

At one stage the authorities were forced to decide to announce Higher Secondary (HSC) and equivalent examination results on the basis of average of JSC and SSC examination results. Higher education activities have also been closed for a long time. However, Honours (Final) and Masters Examinations are being held in the universities recently. Which is somewhat promising news.

Coronavirus infections are predicting three major crises, from primary to higher education. Firstly, corona can cause a large number of students to drop out. Bangladesh had great success in reducing dropouts in recent years. It was possible to reduce the dropout rate from 40 percent in 2009 to about 16 percent. But that is now at huge risk.

Secondly, there is a risk of increasing child labour among children. We can see on the ground that large populations are being forced to employ their children in child labour instead of educating them because of the risks of income security and food security. This child labour also has reduced. But under the due to Covid-19, it can become uncontrollable again.

Thirdly, the rate of child marriage may increase. Bangladesh is a risky country in terms of child marriage. Attempts were being made to pull the reins. In this case, the students of secondary and higher secondary level are at higher risk.

Even before the coronavirus infection, there was concern about the quality of education at all levels, including policymakers. Now there is a fear of lagging behind in terms of numbers and further lagging behind in terms of quality in the way the educational activities are conducted in an alternative way instead of teaching in the classroom. So the biggest challenge for the government in the new year is going to be the restructuring of the education sector. It is learned that the government has already taken a set of plans to launch education activities.

The government has taken initiative to return SSC and HSC candidates to the classrooms from next February to normalize the education institutions in the face of uncertainty. After that, plans are being taken to introduce classes in all classes of secondary and primary level in phases. The results of last year's HSC exam will also be released in January. The Ministry of Education has said that the SSC and equivalent syllabus will be announced by January 15.

I welcome the government's plan. However, not only planning but also proper preparation is required for its implementation. Supervision should be increased. In many cases good plans are taken in our country. But later those plans are not implemented due to the negligence of the people concerned. That should not be the case with education. Alternative syllabus needs to be prepared keeping in mind the issues that are essential for moving to the next level. Students will be weak in the upper class if they do not take lessons properly in the lower.

However, there is no good news about the reopening of educational institutions. Inaugurating the book distribution program among the students, the prime minister said the educational institution will be reopened only if the situation of Covid-19 improves. Therefore, assessment through assignments needs to be maintained this year as well to keep the students busy and speed up their learning activities. The policy makers have to make a decision in this regard very quickly.

In order to compensate for the loss of classroom reading, we need to focus on two things. Firstly, those students who have not been able to get involved through any means need to pay the most attention to their losses. Special arrangements have to be made for them. Secondly, uninterrupted power, internet, devices and data must be made readily available as a complement to the mixed system of learning through TV, radio or online. In this regard, proper training of teachers has to be ensured.

The government will also have to face a big challenge this year in terms of admission in higher education. Of the 39 public universities in the country, 30 are going for cluster admission tests. It has been decided to take admission tests in 19 general, science and technology universities in the cluster system. The cluster admission process will continue in 8 agricultural universities. Among the engineering universities, BUET, RUET, KUET and CUET are being discussed to become a cluster.

On the other hand, Dhaka University, Rajshahi University, Jahangirnagar University and Chittagong University, which are governed by the 1973 Act, are adamant about admission in their own examination system. These admission tests should be arranged properly in accordance with the hygiene rules. Universities need to be sincere enough to overcome the immense loss of higher education.

After being out of the classroom for almost a year, it will be difficult for students to take the next step. In that case teachers need to be more attentive in teaching students. No matter how long it takes, educational activities can no longer be stopped. Just as Corona has had to adapt in other areas of life, so does education.
The writer is a student
of Department of Law,
University of Rajshahi











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