Nearly 69.5 per cent of the primary and secondary students in Bangladesh did not attend distance learning classes through television, radio and the internet during the Covid-19 pandemic, a study says.
Some 57.9 per cent of students were unable to join the distance learning programme due to lack of computers and other necessary apparatus. Such rate stood at 68.9 per cent in the rural areas, the report showed.
Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) unveiled the report ‘Education Watch Study 2020-2021 (Phase 1)’ during a virtual meeting titled ‘Education Watch Study 2020-21 COVID 19 Pandemic-School Education: Status, Response, Challenges, and Prospects’ on Tuesday.
Mostafizur Rahman, a member of Education Watch of CAMPE, presented the report findings at the virtual function.
Rasheda K. Choudhury, executive director of CAMPE, was present at the meeting.
CAMPE is a network of over a thousand NGOs and educator groups working in the basic education sub-sector in the country.
Some 16.5 per cent of the students refrained from participating as they were not drawn to distance learning programmes, the report showed.
Besides, some 75 per cent of students want to return to classes soon, while some 76 per cent of parents favour reopening of schools as soon as possible, the study revealed.
The study collected data from 2,992 people via mobile phones. Of the data providers, 1,709 are primary and secondary level students, 578 teachers, 576 parents, and a number of different Upazila Secondary Education Officers.
Some 73 per cent district-level education officials and some 80 per cent Civil society organisations (CSOs) favour school reopening, the study said.
The study was conducted in eight districts in 8 divisions across the country. Two city corporations (Dhaka North and South) were also involved in the study.
A total of 72 clusters - urban, semi-urban and rural areas and city slums were also chosen in upazilas and cities.
