Tech-based edn for Smart BD urged
City Desk :
The government is putting utmost importance on technology-based education to equip students for building a Smart Bangladesh so that multimedia classrooms and computer labs have been set up at educational institutions along with giving ICT training to teachers.
With a view to enhancing students’ proficiency in information technology and to modernize teaching methods, a total of 33,285 multimedia classrooms and 11,307 computer labs have been set up in selected educational institutions at secondary and higher education level since 2009, reports BSS.
In addition, 64,925 multimedia classrooms and 12,000 labs will be set up in future.
Talking to BSS, Aspire to Innovate (a2i) Programme Project Director Dr Dewan Muhammad Humayun Kabir said greater importance is being given to technology-based education to equip students for building a Smart Bangladesh.
“The successful implementation of the ‘Digital Bangladesh’ encouraged the government to set the new target of building an innovative and knowledge-based ‘SMART Bangladesh’ coinciding with the ‘Vision-2041’ meant to turn Bangladesh into a developed country,” he added.
“Our aim is to provide science- based, technology-based, skill-enhancing, innovation and creativity-supportive education that will instil the spirit of delivering services and their conscientiousness,” Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said while placing the national budget for fiscal 2023-24 in Parliament on June 1.
He added: “We are reaping the benefits of the government’s policies as well as targeted spending in education and skill development over the past 14 years. We can see its clear reflection in socio-economic variables.”
“Today’s children will make our dream of developed-prosperous-smart Bangladesh into reality. Therefore, we want to enable students to face all upcoming challenges mainly arising from the fourth industrial revolution, climate change and move forward,” he said.
According to a2i, some 800 officers at primary education level have been trained on ICT and more than 1 lakh primary teachers have been imparted hands-on training to create digital contents.
These teachers are creating digital contents and teaching in the classrooms. As a result, classroom study is becoming interesting and the children are becoming more attentive in class.
Digital contents of 21 textbooks of primary level and the interactive digital text of 16 textbooks of class VI have been completed and uploaded on the website.
A total of 59,000 laptops, multimedia projectors and sound systems have been provided along with internet connectivity to more than 50,000 government primary schools to set up multimedia classrooms.
E-learning modules for 6 textbooks of class VII and class VIII and e-learning material of 6 textbooks for class IX and class XI have been developed and uploaded. A total of 710 ICT learning centres have been set up in selected educational institutions.
Since 2009, around 5 lakh secondary and higher secondary level teachers have been trained in ICT.
Audio-visual training contents have been developed for teachers on classroom activities of 52 all subjects of class VI and VII and training has been imparted to all teachers through open reading.
