Online school for children in remote parts of Bangladesh wins UN award

As a聽university graduate, Korvi Rakshand wanted nothing more than to聽help break the cycle of poverty in his native Bangladesh by聽teaching children on the margins of society.

He rented a single room in a slum for his lessons and聽provided half a kilo of rice a day to parents as a way of聽encouraging them to send their children to class.

A decade on, what started as a hobby has led to a network of聽10 online schools and three regular schools which aim to give聽thousands of children in remote areas of the South Asian country聽of 163 million an education via technology and the internet.

“What we’ve done is not rocket science but the thing is no聽one ever tried it. It’s a very simple system,” said Rakshand,聽whose JAAGO Foundation was the joint recipient this week of a聽$25,000 United Nations聽award for innovation in education.

Even though primary education is free in Bangladesh, only聽half of all children in the country’s slums attend school, a聽rate 18% lower than the national average, according to聽the UN children’s agency UNICEF.

Rakshand said initially lessons were delivered over Skype, a聽messaging and video call service.

But now teachers in the聽capital Dhaka use interactive video conferencing to present live聽tutorials, analyse charts and watch educational videos with聽students in remote areas.

“For the kids, someone appearing on a television is like a聽celebrity, so the kids love the concept that they’re talking to聽a television and there’s someone from the capital who’s probably聽famous teaching them and giving them time,” Rakshand told the聽Thomson Reuters Foundation.

About JAAGO Foundation

Providing education to underprivileged children and empowering youths in Bangladesh.

Founded in 2007. 2500 students at 13 schools. 22,000 volunteers.

Online School uses technology to connect local classroom teacher to JAAGO teaching centre in Dhaka.

Ensuring inclusive and quality education for all is one of聽17 Sustainable Development Goals adopted by UN聽member states in 2015 as聽part of an ambitious agenda to end global poverty by 2030.

Yet millions of children and adults around the world have聽little or no access to education due to war, poverty and聽displacement, experts say.

To address the deficit, non-profits and others are聽increasingly harnessing technology to reach disadvantaged聽communities and plug gaps in traditional education systems.

Promoting learning among refugees who have fled turmoil in聽countries like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan can transform their聽lives, according to聽Kiron, a non-governmental organisation whose聽work providing refugees with free access to higher education was聽also recognised by the prize from the United Nations聽Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Based in Germany, the NGO runs an online platform that聽allows refugees to sign up to accounting, engineering and other聽courses by logging on via their smartphones from anywhere in the聽world, including camps and shelters.

More than 2000 students have enrolled in the courses聽working with 27 partner universities across Germany, France,聽Turkey and Jordan.

“For refugees that are in a new society, it’s a lot about聽their identity of feeling like a student and not like a refugee聽anymore, and just having fun with each other,” said Markus聽Kressler, co-founder of Kiron.

Kressler said Kiron had been inundated with requests from聽volunteers and academics who wanted to offer their services to聽the online university.

“They (refugees) need just one shot in order to start a new聽life,” he said. “We need to give everyone a fair chance.”

Despite the success of such projects, internet connection聽remains a challenge, according to Rakshand, who said JAAGO had聽considered introducing online classes in Sierra Leone and Nepal聽but faced limited bandwidth in those countries.