Online education is a relatively new phenomenon in Bangladesh. Gathering data online during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, this study examines the response, readiness and challenges of on...

The higher education sector globally has gone through a transition because of the coronavirus outbreak, and as a result, many traditional higher education institutions across the globe have been forced to go online to provide education and arrange assessments so that their students could continue their education and complete their courses. Unlike developed countries, at the beginning of the lockdown, most of the higher education institutions in Bangladesh shut down their operations, and a few universities started moving toward online distance teaching and learning activities. Based on an empirical study, this article discusses the challenges of teaching and learning in higher education in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 lockdown. It also identifies good practices to overcome those challenges. An online survey was conducted to collect data from university teachers throughout the country. Findings from this study show that it was a great challenge for most universities to adopt online teaching and learning models at the beginning of the pandemic. Many factors, such as preparedness, limited resources including financial means, low digital literacy, internet connectivity and suitable physical and virtual infrastructure affected this transition. However, the findings also show that the COVID-19 pandemic created new opportunities for educators and practitioners to explore various professional development activities by trying out different digital pedagogies through practice and reflection. This article also highlights the immediate effect and long-term impact on teaching and learning regarding preparedness for future approaches to education in emergencies.

This article is based on a critical review of the Learning Competency Framework and Approach (LCFA) developed for providing education to the Rohingya refugee children living in refugee camps in Bangladesh. A sectoral approach was adopted to develop the LCFA under the leadership of United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). To review the LCFA, a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis was used as an analytical tool. The SWOT analysis showed that the major strengths of the LCFA include its emphasis on pedagogical aspects, the inclusion of content on life skills, and the scope of engaging communities in the implementation phase. However, the major limitations of the LCFA comprised of lack of contents on post-traumatic mental wellbeing, child abuse, trafficking, and technology. In addition, the volume of content seemed too heavy concerning the duration of the levels. It was not clear if the LCFA was a research-based output, other than consultations. Several challenges were identified by this critical review in implementing the LCFA in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh. These include a lack of understanding of the Rohingya children’s needs, including historical, physical (both geographical and infrastructural), and livelihood, the barrier to comprehending their language and culture, and existing resource constraints for implementing this framework. Considering the Rohingya people’s perspectives, this review makes suggestions to ensure the whole education process becomes more operational, effective, successful and sustainable.

The Rohingyas, an ethnic minority of Myanmar, have been denied human rights, including citizenship rights. Hostile situations in Rakhine State forced them to flee from their motherland and seek refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh and other countries. This chapter presents the challenges and opportunities of providing higher education for the Rohingya refugees. It also presents the current opportunities for refugee higher education in the South Asian and international contexts. Significant recommendations include simplifying the bureaucratic process concerning their access to higher education, collaborating between the government, donors and overseas universities regarding the Rohingya students' admission to higher education, and providing adequate financial support for higher education. It also suggests organising a teacher development programme to provide education to the Rohingya refugees, ensuring counselling support, and conducting need-based research to formulate appropriate evidence-based policies and curricula for enhancing access to higher education for the Rohingya refugees.

This chapter is based on the experiences of academics who redesigned their curriculum during the COVID-19 pandemic to teach remotely in Bangladesh. It examined (1) how the higher educational institutions used their existing curriculum to respond to the emergency and to what extent they could benefit from educational technologies, (2) to what extent it was necessary to redesign the curriculum, and (3) the factors that could be taken into account during the redesigning of the curriculum in light of the emergency and researchers' understanding of the situation. Existing literature has been explored and summarised along with some reflections from practitioners who never taught remotely or online before the pandemic. Findings showed that both teachers and students lacked preparedness for online teaching and learning.