Golam Parwar Slams Online Education Push as ‘Suicidal’

‎Bangla Press Desk:   Secretary General of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Mia Golam Parwar, has strongly criticised the government’s plan to hold online classes three days a week in schools and colleges across all major cities.

He voiced his firm opposition in a statement sent to the media on Thursday (2 April).

Parwar described the decision, made at a coordination meeting at the Secretariat on 31 March, as “highly ill-advised and short-sighted.”

He accused the government of using the energy crisis as a pretext to impose online learning on young students, calling it “part of a deep conspiracy to create a talent-deficient nation.”

He warned that an online-based education system would cause “multiple losses” to students. Due to the high cost of internet access, many underprivileged students would be excluded from learning.

Furthermore, he said, online classes encourage smartphone use, risking device addiction and moral decay among young learners. Classroom-based teaching, he added, is essential for maintaining students’ regular study habits, which are “seriously disrupted” by online learning.

Parwar also highlighted findings from the ‘National Student Assessment 2022’, noting that during the COVID-19 pandemic, students, particularly in poorer and remote areas such as Mymensingh, lagged behind their peers in urban regions in core subjects like Bengali and mathematics.Surveys by UNICEF and other organisations reportedly showed increased student dropouts and child labour during periods of online learning.

He criticised the government’s attempt to implement the new curriculum in 2023 without proper planning, saying the education system has yet to recover from the pandemic’s disruptions. “At a time when comprehensive educational reform is urgently needed, returning to online classes will bring no benefit to our students,” he said.

Parwar added, “No energy crisis justifies destroying students’ lives. If there is truly an energy shortage, why are other sectors being maintained while schools and colleges are targeted? This approach appears to be part of a broader scheme to deprive the nation of intellectual capacity.”

He urged the government to prioritise the education sector and take responsible action, warning that the authorities would bear full responsibility for any negative consequences.

“We call for the immediate withdrawal of this unreasonable decision and for all students to receive regular, in-person teaching,” he said.