Virtual Classrooms in Bangladesh: Assessing Child Vulnerability in the Light of International Law
4. Legal Concerns Caused from Virtual Classroom
4.2. Child vulnerabilities
The CRC suggests implementing a general, non-discriminatory teaching method for the children, which serves for the best interests of the child;41 ensures right to life and development,42 also prospects of the child.43 These principles should be considered as the general principles of the international law while implementing the rights to education.44 However, the pandemic situation has posed several challenges to international standards set forth in the fields of online teaching and learning. The obligations of a state party cover to develop a national system on the basis of equal opportunities in terms of access to education.45 However, there are number of discriminations prevailing caused from the current pandemic situation.
Several studies and news show that the educational institutions, mainly the non- government urban schools started online teaching programmes already in May 2020. Whereas, the same method is not yet available in the government primary schools located in rural areas. Although the government has started curriculum- based teaching via television programmes; yet, television is inaccessible to a large number of people. Moreover, the statistical report supports that only 50% of the total number of students all over the country have access to television and the rest of children are being deprived of education while the urban privileged children are anyway carrying out their studies.46 A recent press release of UNICEF reveals that at least one third of the child students around the globe do not have access to remote learning programmes during the pandemic situation.47
The Food for Education programme provides in-kind stipend to poor children at primary schools, which facilitates the right to education and the right to food in an
41 Convention on the Rights of the Child.
42 ibid, Ar 6.
43 ibid, Ar 12.
44 Laura Lundy, ‘United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Child Well-Being’ in Asher Ben-Arieh and others (eds), Handbook of Child Well-Being (Springer Netherlands 2014) <http://
link.springer.com/10.1007/978-90-481-9063-8_94> accessed 24 August 2020.
45 Convention on the Rights of the Child, Ar 28(1).
46 Rakib Hasnat, ‘Coronavirus: Advantages are in urban areas, disadvantages for the rural students’
BBC News Bangla <https://www.bbc.com/bengali/news-53001115> accessed 20 August 2020.
47 According to the press release 70% of them are from pre-primary school and 29% from primary school. Among the total deprived children of the whole world, 38% belong to South Asian countries. ‘COVID-19: At Least a Third of the World’s Schoolchildren Unable to Access Remote Learning during School Closures, New Report Says’ <https://www.unicef.org/press- releases/covid-19-least-third-worlds-schoolchildren-unable-access-remote-learning-during>
accessed 28 August 2020.
integrated manner. The goals of the programme include to increase school enrolment and attendance, reduce dropout rate, and improve the quality of education. The programme started in 1993 and accommodated nearly 2.3 million students until 2000.48 However, due to the closure of educational institutions during the pandemic, those children are being deprived from such logistic supports. Thus, it would be an illusionary thought that they are capable of affording equipment for virtual classroom.
Bangladesh attended the Dakar Conference of World Education Forum in 200049 which has drafted a framework for the National Action Plan (NPA) II for the years 2003-2015.50 The major concern of the Dakar Conference is to ensure standard quality of education. The framework includes to ensuring equal access to all by addressing socio-cultural, financial, and structural impediments. It identifies universal access to basic learning opportunities for all young people and adults by the year 2015,51 which is also incorporated under the Millennium Development Goal (MDG). Nevertheless, an intricate link of standard education can play a key role in the full realisation of the MDG.52 In fact, Bangladesh has taken the initiative to ensure universal access to basic learning opportunities; however, the country was never prepared for the availability of technological equipment and infrastructures to all children. The reality is that Bangladesh is struggling to cope with the suddenly created gaps in the use of technology for the means of educational purposes - it would be wise to allow some time for assessing the actual efforts of the country addressing the challenges faced by the children during the pandemic conditions.
The CRC stresses for taking all appropriate measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse,53 in order to safeguarding the psychological well-being of the children, along with failure to meet their physical and psychological needs or obtain other services.54 Virtual classrooms permit exposure to internet at a tender age, which has negatively impact on the mind of a child. International law does not support that children are supposed to be exposed to unsafe material, potential bullying and obscure methods of
48 Mustafa K Mujeri, ‘The Rights-Based Approach to Education in Bangladesh’ 33 (1–2) The Bangladesh Development Studies 139.
49 ‘The Dakar Framework for Action’ (World Education Forum 2000) <https://
sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/1681Dakar%20Framework%20for%20Action.
pdf> accessed 28 August 2020.
50 ‘Education for All: National Plan of Action II (2003-2015)’ <https://planipolis.iiep. unesco. org/
sites/planipolis/files/ressources/bangladesh_npa_efa.pdf> accessed 28 August 2020.
51 ‘The Dakar Framework for Action’ (n 48), p 8; ‘Education for All: National Plan of Action II (2003- 2015)’ (n 49), p 22.
52 Mohammad Badruzzaman and Md Nannu Mian, ‘Right to Education in Bangladesh: An Appraisal for Constitutional Guarantee’ (2015) 12 Journal of Studies in Social Sciences 1.
53 Convention on the Rights of the Child.
54 ibid, Ar 19.
communication. Thus, COVID-19 situation has exposed the children to a risk of potential internet harms in absence of having low rate of internet awareness among them.55
Virtual class discourages students from going to school; while, Chris Whitty has observed that not going to school may in the long run cause children mental and physical ill health.56 This sickness may affect the children with pre-existing disabilities. Moreover, children with special needs need more communication and assistance for their studies which is absent in the VLE practised in Bangladesh.
Thus, online teaching and learning creates discrimination among the children and inaccessibility to their right to education.
These negative physical and psychological costs have also been reported in previous studies, also include substantial anger and sleep disorders. 57 Furthermore, evidence shows that the post-trauma situation may become more stressful because of lack of development of coping techniques under the new system.58 As a consequence of absence of emotional and spiritual support from teachers, family members and friends, the children with the home confinement become disappointed and looking to get back to their normal school life previously prevailed.59
5. Conclusion
The government of Bangladesh has imposed online teaching method to the students including children to comply with the rights to education during the pandemic caused from COVID-19 although online teaching method has not been proven as perfect alternative to the classical method of education in terms of merit.
However, implementing the new system generates to contravene a number of child rights recognised in international law, and thus has posed several legal concerns.
In fact, there is a need for supplying proper equipment to insolvent children and providing training to teachers and students on the operating system of VLE and LMS in order to make the virtual means of teaching and learning more effective.
The interim curriculum could be tiny taking into account the mental pressure of
55 ‘One Million School Children to Receive Online Safety Certification by next Year’ <https://www.
unicef.org/bangladesh/en/press-releases/one-million-school-children-receive-online-safety- certification-next-year> accessed 24 August 2020.
56 ‘Missing School Is “Worse than Virus for Children”’ BBC News (23 August 2020)
<https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-53875410> accessed 24 August 2020.
57 Donna Barbisch, Kristi L Koenig and Fuh-Yuan Shih, ‘Is There a Case for Quarantine? Perspectives from SARS to Ebola’ (2015) 9 Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness 547.
58 Alexandra Roussos and others, ‘Posttraumatic Stress and Depressive Reactions Among Children and Adolescents After the 1999 Earthquake in Ano Liosia, Greece’ (2005) 162 American Journal of Psychiatry 530.
59 Sprang and Silman (n 22).
the children, less number of classes could be conducted in the daily routine of children which must include motivational courses for both physical and mental refreshment. Moreover, the guardians should be aware of unsafe material, potential bullying and obscure methods of communication, the contents and potential threats that become available to the children while using internet. The government should seek opinions from children how to formulate national laws dealing with children concerns at this adverse circumstance.
The global pandemic seems to be demanding a new way of thinking of human rights law - the question has raised beyond the boundaries of classical international law; while, special emphasis should be given to the provisions of law dealing with the rights of the children. The new situation urges for proper rules and policy at national level, considering the standards set forth in international law. However, the questions are sensitive in true sense due to peculiar characteristics of COVID -19, also lack of readily available solutions beforehand to cope with the challenging situations emerged.