Rights Corner
Our Right to Education
Photo: flickar.com
Our constitution guaranteed our right to education though not as a fundamental right! In response, the government, with its present Education Policy, is working to build an education system that develops its students into competitive resources ready to endure and prosper in the present century. The government is planning further to eliminate illiteracy through proactive use of information and communications technology as a strong enabler.
The 21st century skills now include creative thinking, problem solving, communication and collaborative practices. The current teacher-centric archetype of teaching methods promotes rote learning and failed to engender problem-solving abilities in students. Classroom teaching-learning practices can be greatly improved through the use of information and communications technologies as seen in many countries.
The more important goal should be to provide access to students and combine information and communications technology in general curriculum. Various services to students, parents, and teachers can attain significant efficiency gain, cost reduction, and higher level of transparency if information and communications technologies are used in the delivery process. Submission of applications for admission and other services, publishing examination results are among very popular services for education so far.
The assimilation process information and communications technology in primary education received a significant boost with the start of the second Primary Education Development Program-II initiative. At administration level, the plan is to connect more than five hundred Upazilla Centers through modern networks. After the connectivity completion, the concerned ministry is hoping to start real time data update from these centers, which in turn will ensure interactive and transparent data mobility.
Out of nearly forty thousand government primary schools in Bangladesh, about seven thousand schools have electricity, a key enabler for micro-level information and communications technology applications. The ministry is planning to develop digital educational content and disseminate it through laptops in the schools with power. For the majority of schools outside the service of national power grid, different options for connectivity and content sharing through mobile/wireless network are being actively considered.
Significant digital and information divide exists among rural and urban schools, in terms of human resource, digital content availability, affordability and accessibility. There is a real risk that uses of information and communications technology based options can further marginalize groups already excluded or on the edge of educational practices and innovations. On the other hand, with supportive policies and careful planning and monitoring, information and communications technology hold out the promise of facilitating greater inclusion of such groups.
Female children on average have less access to information and communications technology and fewer opportunities for information and communications technology-related engagement compared to boys because of illiteracy lack of time, lack of mobility, and poverty. Despite the efforts to make the program gender neutral, gender inequalities in access may persist. As a result, the introduction of information and communications technologies in education, done without careful deliberation, will result in the further marginalization of those who are already underserved and/or disadvantaged.
The selection of technology must be in accordance with national reality of availability of electricity: preference for laptops with long power backups rather than desktops, devices that run on alternative energy sources, hybrid technological solutions using a combination of mobile phones, community radio, TV, web TV, etc.
Close monitoring at the school level is possible by using mobile phones and internet. Successful models have already been tested in the country. These will have a positive impact to reduce teacher absenteeism. Education TV, web TV and community radio: The almost unused second terrestrial channel of the government will turn into an education TV channel after the broadcast for Parliamentary purposes. As many as sixteen Ministries have already shown interest for producing educational content for this TV channel. Community radio will play an important role for educational improvement in local areas.
Accelerating development, establishing greater social equity, escalating agricultural productivity, in the long run, all come back to education. Bangladesh has been working hard towards developing a knowledge-centric vision amid a long list of various challenges. The government's present vision is that every student becomes ready to face the challenges of the 21st century world with training from an education system supported by competent teachers.
The author is an Advocate and socio-legal researcher.
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