Bangladesh kicks off online classes for college students

Colleges have begun conducting online lessons for new class XI students as the coronavirus pandemic continues to keep schools and other educational institutions across the country shut.

Education Minister Dipu Moni on Sunday virtually inaugurated the online sessions for the 2020-21 academic year during a programme organised by Dhaka College.

"There is nothing to be scared of. All crises create new possibilities. Many changes will come in the coming days. We have to adapt to this change. We see a lot of limitations, but there are actually a lot of possibilities too. Let us use them,” she said.

Where teachers were once thought to be the main sources of knowledge, that idea no longer applies with technology taking precedence, according to Dipu Moni.

"Now there are open resources of information. The teacher in the digital classroom is no longer the sole source of knowledge, his role is now guiding the students to the different sources of information.

"But now the teachers also have to adapt themselves as a paradigm shift is taking place.”

Apart from textbooks, Dipu Moni stressed the need to read books in general to enrich one's knowledge of history and culture.

Addressing the freshmen, she said, “The main purpose of studying is to know oneself. If you want to know yourself, you have to know a lot. You have to know your own history, tradition, culture. We were born in a country with a thousand years of history. This rich history is the source of our strength. We need to know this."

Deputy Minister of Education Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury congratulated the students who were about to embark on the next phase of their academic journey.

"They (students) are going to start by crossing a difficult path. But I think we have a revolutionary opportunity to become proficient in multidimensional education. I would urge the students to develop the mentality to embrace the multi-disciplinary and multidimensional education.”