Huawei Bangladesh provides digital solutions to high schools for distance learning

Huawei Bangladesh has partnered with Bijoy Digital to provide digital solutions to T&T High schools across Bangladesh to facilitate distance learning through a project titled 'Bridging the Digital Education Divide to Reduce the Gap', which will provide Huawei smart devices along with Bijoy Digital App and connectivity to pre-school to Grade 4 students. The project is receiving collaborative support from the UNESCO Office in Bangladesh.

This initiative was announced in a virtual inauguration ceremony that took place on July 8, 2020. Mustafa Jabbar, Minister, PTD, Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh attended the ceremony as the chief guest. The event was also attended by Md. Nur-Ur-Rahman, Secretary, Posts and Telecommunications Division, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh; Dr. Md. Rafiqul Matin, Managing Director, Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Limited (BTCL); Beatrice Kaldun, Head of Office and UNESCO Representative to Bangladesh; Jasmine Jui, CEO, Bijoy Digital; Halima Begum, Head Teacher, T&T Boys High School, Banani, Dhaka and Zhang Zhengjun, CEO, Huawei Technologies (Bangladesh) Limited.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, all schools across Bangladesh have been shut down to maintain social distancing, and it led to millions of children being out of the education system. Numerous schools across the country have restarted its teaching through distance learning, however, a higher percentage of the student population across the nation do not have access to digital technology. Thus, digital technology with complimentary access to devices can transform the education sector and increase the rate of literacy across the nation even during the pandemic.

Initially, the project will start with T&T Boys High School in Banani, Dhaka and then move forward to other schools in two years. Huawei will provide Huawei Tab (Huawei MediaPad T3 10) to students and teachers to T&T Boys High School in Dhaka to empower the process of digital education. Bijoy Digital will enable students to follow the national curriculum of Bangladesh in an innovative way. All the tabs will have pre-installed Bijoy Digital apps.

By February 2021, the entities will ensure to provide the digital solutions for two other schools and will finish the project in August 2022.

Minister Mustafa Jabbar said, "The Government of Bangladesh has been relentlessly working to find and apply alternate ways to ensure continued learning. I find so much confidence when I see Huawei is realising the facts in the education sector and collaborating with local and UN organizations, took the initiative to distribute digital solutions to the students who do not have access to study. This will be one important part in accelerating the progress of digital transformation in Bangladesh."

Beatrice Kaldun commented, "In order to reach each and every learner in Bangladesh, including those that are of high risk to be left behind, we all need to work together. By working together we can tackle and overcome learning content and connectivity gaps and thus allow learners to continue their learning during this unprecedented difficult time of Covid-19. UNESCO greatly appreciates the initiative and contribution of Huawei, who is a member of UNESCO's Global Education Coalition for the COVID-19 response, as a technology provider in this project to ensure that "learning in Bangladesh never stops".

Zhang Zhengjun said, "Huawei, since its start of operation in Bangladesh, has been honoured to be a part of the Digital Bangladesh journey. We will continue our efforts to realise this mission."

"We thank PTD, BTCL, Bijoy Digital and UNESCO to join us in our endeavour of enhancing digital education in Bangladesh," he added.