Delivering quality education is a challenge

Delivering quality education is facing a major challenge in Bangladesh due to the imposition of shallow thinking on the mindset of children through reels and shorts, said Mahmudul Hasan Sohag, co-founder of Rokomari, an e-commerce platform.

Reels are a type of Instagram video that are up to 60 seconds long while Shorts are 1-3 minute long vertical Youtube videos and they are hugely popular among the growing internet population across the world, including Bangladesh.

"A significant global effort is underway to make people shallow. Reels and Shorts have been introduced on social networking sites, directing them not to think deeply. When you promote shallowness, how can you ensure the quality of education?"

Sohag thinks state machinery alone can't fight it if there is no unified global action.

"When humans are shallow, robots will run everything. Who will set policies when there will be only a few deep thinkers? If people become indifferent and shallow, it will be easy to rule them. I think we have embarked in this direction," he added.

The entrepreneur was speaking at a panel discussion titled "Catalysing Education for the 4th Industrial Revolution: An EdTech Dialogue" at the two-day Bangladesh Startup Summit-2023 at InterContinental Dhaka today.

He said the quality of education has become a serious matter of concern. "It is alarming that students who get zeros in Math Olympiad are rising. On the other hand, a group of students is performing great."

Rubana Huq, vice-chancellor of the Asian University for Women, said edu-tech platforms in Bangladesh have remained unplanned.

She suggested that platforms be unified with a public-private partnership ecosystem where investors, educators, developers, and users come together.

The businesswoman also said Bangladesh needs to go for value-addition and product development for the advancement of the IT sector.