The traditional way of classroom teaching in rural educational institutions is changing with the transformation of the country adapting to Digital Bangladesh.
Teaching is being given digitally in most of the rural classrooms. For this, Sheikh Russell Digital Lab has been set up in 8000 educational institutions of secondary and higher secondary levels.
The goal of the government is to spread the benefit of this lab to an estimated 1.70 lakh educational institutions of the country through fiber optical lines for high-speed internet connection by 2025. The government is working to transfer technical knowledge not only at the secondary to college level but also at the primary education level.
Instead of a blackboard, there is a video screen on the wall which is the illustrated learning method or digital classroom. Students’ attendance is also available through their fingerprints. The content in the multimedia classroom is enjoyable to the students as it is visible on the screen.
Most of the students have expressed that the new digital classrooms are helping them a lot. Sometimes it seems an additional book is needed which the students cannot purchase. However, they are now able to download it from their online library. Similarly, when they do not understand any word, they simply find its synonym on the internet instantly.
State minister for information and technology Zunaid Ahmed Palak said, “Our main aim is to make our students ICT related knowledgeable from the primary level to secondary and higher secondary level. We are setting up labs, creating content, and creating an ecosystem for them to acquire such knowledge.”
The State Minister further said, “By 2025, about 1.70 lakh educational institutions and other government departments will be brought under Fiber Optical services having highspeed internet. Sheikh Russell Digital Lab is now available in 8000 schools and colleges in the country.”
He also hoped that Sheikh Russell Digital Lab would be set up in 35,000 educational institutions next year.
In addition, there is a crisis of qualified teachers. Although there are teachers, they lack the relevant skills on use of internet. Experts have suggested education department increase their supervision to know the real situation of those labs set up across the country.