The government is trying to ensure internet access to the students free of cost to continue academic activities during the Covid-19 crisis.

Besides, the government will continue to run online education activities alongside formal education activities to spread the light of education and build an enlightened nation, said Post and Telecommunication Minister, Mustafa Jabbar.

He expressed his firm commitment to take all possible initiatives to make internet facilities easily available for students and educational institutions, at a virtual seminar on Monday.

Awami League’s subcommittee on education and human resources arranged the online seminar titled, “What we should do about education in the current global crisis”.

Mustafa Jabbar said, “The internet use in education should be considered as an investment of the state, not expenditure. The future education sector will not be classroom-oriented but a digitalised one. Classroom arrangements need to be digitized with the conventional method. Otherwise, we will not be able to create human resources for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

He said, “Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had sown the seeds of digital technology development by acquiring membership of ITU in 1973 and setting up a satellite ground station at Betbunia on June 14, 1975.”

“In the last 16 years, from 1996 to 2001 and from 2009 to 2020, Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in digitalization of every sector under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Bangladesh will enter the 5G era in 2021,” he continued.

High speed broadband internet has been provided in 3800 unions while work is going on to provide broadband connection in some 777 unions, the minister said, adding, “We have started working to provide high speed internet to haor (wetland), remote islands and shoal areas of the country through Bangabandhu Satellite-1.”

Mentioning the demand of providing lessons through quality digital content, the minister said that digital education content creation from primary to higher education and teaching through digital content is essential now.

Addressing the seminar as the chief guest, Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni urged the mobile phone operators to announce free internet packages for students so that they can join online education programmes easily.

“Educational institutions have been closed for a long time due to the global pandemic. We have given emphasis on online programmes to continue the education activities,” she said.

Dipu Moni said a number of educational institutions in the country are conducting online education programmes, but many students are not able to bear the internet cost to participate in these online learning activities.

That is why, she said, discussion continues with mobile phone operators on how free or low-cost internet packages could be ensured for students.

The education minister hoped that the mobile phone operators will show positive response to this end.
About the payment of tuition fees during the closure of educational institutions, she said many educational institutions are putting pressure on students to pay their tuition fees although their educational institutions have been closed for a long time.

Dipu Moni urged all the educational institutions and parents to come forward to this end, saying if they do not pay the tuition fees, the institutions will not be able to pay the salaries of their teachers.

“So, both sides have to be humane with some concessions,” she added.

Bangla Academy President Prof Shamsuzzaman Khan, Vice-Chancellor of the National University Prof Harun-or-Rashid, former Vice-Chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Prof Dr Kamrul Hasan Khan, and Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Prof Dr ASM Maksud Kamal, among others, joined the online seminar with Chairman of the AL subcommittee Prof Abdul Khaleq in the chair.