Digital Divide in Education Sector of Bangladesh during COVID-19
Keywords:
Digital Divide, COVID-19, ICT Infrastructure, Online Education, Government Initiatives, Bangladesh
Abstract
Like many developing countries, Bangladesh has experienced noticeable digital divide in the education sector, which was apparently prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic period. All over the world, this pandemic urged the need for enhanced ICT infrastructures for students, teachers, and network providers in a single line to mitigate the sudden crisis on the one hand and provide access to education at all levels. This article focuses on the evolving situation in the education sector of Bangladesh as to how a digital divide has adversely affected equal access to online education. Based on 25 key informant interviews from the public and private university teachers as well as secondary data and information, this study attempts to demonstrate the tertiary-level education scenario of Bangladesh during COVID-19. The results found that the government intended to address the situation with its limited resources but could have done more to handle the education crisis during the unexpectedly-prolonged pandemic. It has been observed that access to ICT facilities is needed for an effective government initiative with an adequate budgetary allocation to ensure sustainability. Developing ICT infrastructure and taking necessary steps may reduce the existing and post-COVID-19 effects on digital divide.
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Hilbert, M. (2011). The end justifies the definition: The manifold outlooks on the digital divide and their practical usefulness for policy-making. Telecommunications Policy, 35(8), 715–736. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2011.06.012.
Islam, M. S., & Grönlund, Å. (2011, August). Digital Bangladesh–A Change We Can Believe in?. In International Conference on Electronic Government and the Information Systems Perspective (pp. 107-121). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Islam, M. R., & Salam, M. A. (2018). ICT Integration Non-formal Primary School: An Exploratory Study. NAEM Journal, 13(25), 43-51.
Iivari, N., Sharma, S., & Ventä-Olkkonen, L. (2020). Digital transformation of everyday life–How COVID-19 pandemic transformed the basic education of the young generation and why information management research should care?. International Journal of Information Management, 55, 102183.
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Rony, H. A. Z., & Awal, S. T. (2019). University Teachers’ Training on Online Teaching-Learning using Online Platform during COVID-19: A Case Study. BANGLADESH EDUCATION JOURNAL, 57.
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UNESCO (2015). Bangladesh Pre-primary Education and the School Learning Improvement Plan, Bangladesh Office, Dhaka.
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World Bank (2020). World Bank Annual Report 2020. https://www.worldbank.org/en/about/annual-report
Published
2023-06-13
How to Cite
Ahsan, M. M., Jerin, S. S., & Islam, M. R. (2023). Digital Divide in Education Sector of Bangladesh during COVID-19. European Journal of Science, Innovation and Technology, 3(3), 96-112. Retrieved from https://ejsit-journal.com/index.php/ejsit/article/view/200
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Copyright (c) 2023 Md Moynul Ahsan, Sk. Safoana Jerin, Md. Ramizul Islam
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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