ICT has brought new opportunities to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDG-4) – inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifeblog
learning opportunities for all. Bangladesh is at the emerging stage where
there is an awareness of the potential of ICT in addressing education equity,
quality and efficiency at national and school levels. The ICT sector is one of
the fastest-growing sectors. Government entrusted the Ministry of Posts,
Telecommunication and Information Technology for the development and promotion
of ICT sector.
What is ICT? : The term ICT simply means any technology that has to do
with information and communication. Information may come in many ways such as
sound, video, text and images. So, when we think of what technology it is
available that produces these aspects of information and sometimes a
combination of all these. ICT comprises of both old and new tools. Old tools
include radio, TV, telephone. New tools comprise of computers, satellites,
internet and wireless technology.
According to ICT researcher Dr. Craig Blurton, ICT is defined as “A diverse
set of technologies, tools and resources used to communicate, create,
disseminate, store and manage information”.
Necessity of ICT Education : ICT and learning have a close relation in
this modern arena. Effective and creative teaching is needed for quality
education. The concept of present-day educational technology is divided into
audio-visual technology, instructional technology, management technology etc.
It was clearly stated in the report of International Commission of Education
where learning might take on new and different dimensions in the traditional
educational learning is linear. In the near future, learning may be reflected
more closely on the complex and multidimensional nature of life outside
school. In this connection, ICT has an important role stimulating interaction
and discouraging passivity. Four basic factors are mostly specified that are
responsible for introducing ICT education. Those factors are shown below-
- Social : Technology plays an important role in society. Students need to be made aware of technology and strive become tech-savvy.
- Vocational : Many jobs nowadays are technology-oriented.
- Catalytic : Using technology tools as a great way to enhance the teaching-learning process.
- Pedagogical : Technology and ICT tools as a great way to enhance learning, flexibility and efficiency in the process of disseminating knowledge.
Objectives of Using ICT in Education : Information and communication
technology (ICT) has contributed immensely to social and economic
improvements. Accordingly few objectives of ICT education are given below :
- Providing accessibility through online medium of education
- Improving the quality of teaching, especially in remote areas
- Increating transparency in the education system
- Strengthening the policies, rules and laws in the education system
- Analyzing student’s performance, placement and application of knowledge
ICT Policy of Bangladesh : The use of information and communication
technologies in the education system in accordance with other countries, make
it modern and work-oriented. The present ruling government has been working
vastly in every wing of education. The first ICT policy of Bangladesh was
framed in 2002, then it was revised in 2008 and finally adopted by the
government in April 2009. The ICT policy focuses on the mainstream social
advancement opportunities for disadvantaged groups as a priority to minimize
economic disparity. It basically includes lower-income groups, ethnic
minorities, women and persons with disabilities and special needs. The policy
facilitates citizens’ participation in local and national government and
policymaking as a broad national agenda. It also encourages maximum
utilization of ICT services nationwide to boost productivity of small, medium
and micro enterprises and the agriculture sector. The government of Bangladesh
has planned and taken many steps to flourish ICT sector.
ICT in Educatin : ‘ICT in Education Master plan’ has been introduced
for a skill-based and befitting education system, every branch of education
will be assimilated to ICT sector. ICT education is compulsorily being given
to secondary levels of education. 33,285 Multimedia classrooms have been set
up in some chosen schools. Moreover, 46,340 multimedia classrooms are under
the procedure of setting up. 2,306 computer labs have already been set up in
many selected schools and colleges. 3,22,230 ICT teachers have been given
training on ICT, additionally 350000 ICT teachers are under the continuous
process of training. To form and develop an ICT based society and skilled
generation 255 posts of ICT teacher has also been created in the government
colleges across the country. Online dashboard process of monitoring multimedia
classrooms has been launched on in many schools and colleges. Online admission
procedure is running in the government schools, colleges and universities. ICT
cells have been set up in the universities fr conducting ICT related
activities.
Potrait of ICT Sector in Bangladesh : Leveraging ICT project has been
launched aiming to develop a vibrant and healthy Information Technology (IT)
and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES). Bangladesh, in particular,
has seen significant interest from IT-ITES players in the recent years. The
domestic IT-ITES industry in Bangladesh is currently valued at USD 09 – 1.1
billion and is expected to grow five-fold to reach USD 4.6 – 4.8 billion by
2025.
Bangladesh got connected with its first undersea cable SEA-ME-WE-4 in 2006 and
with the second on SEA-ME-WE-5 in 2017. The country has now bandwidth capacity
of 2,600 GDPS from two submarine cables. The 3rd undersea cable, SEA-ME-WE-6
will be implemented by 2024, will add another 7,200 GDPS.
Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority (BHTPA) is establishing Hi-Tech Park,
Software Technology Park and IT Training & Incubation Centre throughout
the country to attract the local and foreign investors for the development of
Hi-Tech/ IT/ ITES industries. It creates huge employment opportunities and
skilled human resources. Information Technology, Software Technology,
Bio-Technology, Renewable Energy, Green Technology, It Hardware, IT Enabled
Services and R&D etc. are major areas of investment in Hi-Tech industry in
Bangladesh.
Challenges : Bangladesh faces major roadblocks (i) unequal access of
quality education and (ii) lack of capacity of its graduates to learn how to
contribute to their countries economic growth. Lack of quality education and
efficiency really pushes back to achieve necessary ICT knowledge. There are
some other challenges which Bangladesh has to face to ensure complete ICT
education in each and every field f Technology such as ensuring power supply,
building e-learning infrastructure, hi-speed internet intellectual property
right etc.
ICT plays a significant role in the field of education, it helps teachers to
adapt the tools and provide and disseminate effective knowledge to the
students. ICT education effectively promotes and develops the culture of
learning by sharing experiences and information with others.