As part of Cosmos  Dialogue, a webinar titled “Impact of COVID-19 on Bangladesh: Prognosis for Recovery" will be held on Friday connecting experts from home and abroad virtually. The webinar will begin at 8pm (BST) at www.facebook.com/unbnewsroom which will be the first-ever webinar as part of Cosmos Dialogue.

Experts on Monday urged the government to increase allocation for education, noting that the primary reason for most of the problems in the sector is allocation. They also apprehend that the dropout rate of children would go up due to the coronavirus pandemic.  Their opinions came from a webinar titled “Tackling the Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Education Sector of Bangladesh” organised by South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM). "The primary reason for most of the problems in education sector being the allocation in education, this allocation must be increased, and primary teachers must be provided with more support in terms of salary and responsibilities," said Professor Dr Syed Manzoorul Islam of Dhaka University’s English department. SANEM’s Executive Director and Professor of Economics at DU Dr Selim Raihan conducted the webinar through video conferencing app ZOOM. Around 70 educators, students, development practitioners, researchers, and journalists joined the webinar. "Education must not be deprioritised in the upcoming budget; rather, the allocation for education should be increased," Executive Director of Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) Rasheda K Choudhury said. She expressed her concern as well that the dropout rate will increase due to the economic crisis brought forward by the current pandemic. She also pointed out that the increase in the dropout rate will increase child labour and child marriage in turn. She expressed her concern that non-governmental teachers will face problems in getting a regular salary. Rasheda K Choudhury said that in the post-pandemic scenario, schools and educational institutions will have to follow all health protocols, especially the guidelines provided by WHO and urged the government to start acting now in these regards. She opined that allocation for research in tertiary education should be increased as well. She also said that mobile service operators and internet providers must come forward in these times of crisis and provide free internet support for education. Dr Syed Manzoorul Islam assumed that almost 30 percent of students will not be able to return to schools after the pandemic. He also expressed concern that many will face hardship in procuring educational materials and necessities. Pointing out that online education is increasing the existing inequality in the education sector; he opined that Public-Private Partnership is necessary to address these issues. He discussed the detrimental effects of coaching centres and the subsequent obstacles in ensuring creative education. It is necessary to stop the coaching business and implement the education policy passed by the Parliament in 2010. Dr Islam said that to implement the education policy effectively, the Ministry of Education should seek the leadership and assistance of the youth as a more dynamic solution can be provided by them. He made some recommendations for the speedy and smooth resumption of educational activities after the pandemic, which included redesigning of semesters and school years and cancelling JSC and PSC. He hoped that if the youth are involved than the challenges and problems in the education sector will be overcome.