The trophies and atrophies of the Covid-19 pandemic

Covid-19 deserves a trophy for virtually connecting many of us during these atrophy-ridden times. It has made us learn as we go; technology was thrust upon us. While it is true that as a result of the fear of the disease, our lives have been temporarily shrunk to just homes and screens, it is also true that we have been forced to widen our perspectives.

Local teaching and learning, in particular, has to be put into a global context, and vice versa. For instance, the countries dedicated to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) took this overwhelming presence of online platforms as an opportunity to rethink and re-establish links between the global north and global south. For a university dedicated to SDGs, internationalisation is one of the major markers for the global outlook and international rankings. Consequently, many universities and knowledge platforms in industrialised countries have taken an unprecedented interest in sharing a broad range of information and communication technology (ICT) and pedagogical strategies with the less developed ones in meaningful ways. The access, given to us through various Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) by the world's top universities, is a case in point. We have largely benefited from these international practices.

These exposures have also made us reflect on what our local experience means from a broader global perspective. The issue of internationalisation has, thus, come to the fore. While traditional internationalisation relied mostly on student/faculty mobility and institutional partnerships, the pandemic has made us aware of sustainable concepts such as Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) and Globally Network Learning (GNL). Then again, the question remains: How do we retain or continue to benefit from these "abroad online" engagements when in-person activities resume? How do we incorporate the new or innovative forms of pedagogy while focusing on strategic inclusion of diversity, equity, and other sustainability in our curricular and extra-curricular programmes? Will the elite institutions continue to remain generous once the pandemic situation improves? Or do we prepare our own contingency plan, taking stock of our own reality?

In a changed academic milieu, one other major challenge is going to come out of the "relaxed" assessment model and "auto-pass" practices that were employed in the last two years. How do we ensure that our students are empowered and ready to be engaged and employed in a post-pandemic job market? This is going to be an acid test for us, the educators, who were responsible for delivering knowledge under the recently adopted online platform. The trial-and-error mode through which service was provided is likely to show cracks once the employers start dealing with the pandemic graduates. We will get to know whether a simulation lab is a substitute for hands-on experience or not. We will get to know how working from home has changed our work habits and ethics. Simple decorum such as dressing up for the class or being attentive to the teacher without relying on the class recording to be uploaded for future viewing has changed during this ongoing crisis. Do we need the blueprints developed in other countries and customise them for our contexts? Or do we start devising our own?

The challenges are great, and I would like to believe that we are not alone in this ordeal. Both local and global communities have come together in what has come to be known as green internationalisation that demands a high level of global awareness. Then again, we need to be aware of many of the international agencies who have used this crisis as an opportunity to sell knowledge or technologies. There are many profit-oriented ventures out there that can create a dependency loop. The developed world is trying to sell many cloud-based solutions, automation platforms, educational management systems, and learning management systems. There has to be a national policy and support scheme to make these transitions. At the same time, we need to reach out to our talents abroad. The pandemic has opened up new channels for reversing the brain drain to serve our national causes. The many dialogues and forums during the last two years have reconnected us with some of our own scholars and professionals who live in developed countries. Many of them have been extremely generous with their time and knowledge-sharing. The online format has indeed created a new possibility of "brain gain."

What we need right now as a central authority is to come up with a country paper to analyse things that we have learned. There has to be clear instruction from the education ministry if the government wants us to pursue blended or hybrid learning in the post-Covid scenario. To do so, we will need continued engagement of both local and global communities. The strategic outlines must contain a future vision of sustainable and inclusive internationalisation and mobility without losing sight of the cross-cutting issues of gender, education for sustainable development, and indigeneity. And it will be wonderful to do it with the help of our own resources abroad, without falling into the trap of agenda-ridden international agencies.

I am emboldened to say this based on my recent experience of attending a webinar organised by the University Grants Commission (UGC). Some brilliant non-resident Bangladeshis working in world-class institutions such as Nasa, Google, Microsoft and Intel came together to show their willingness to not only share their knowledge, but also to do something for their home country. For instance, one aeronautical engineer told the audience about the air taxi project in which he is involved. He observes that air taxis are going to be a reality in the US within the next five years. Imagine such technology being introduced to mitigate traffic jams in Dhaka.

Thanks to the laudable initiative of the UGC, these Bangladeshis living abroad have been integrated with our national causes. We now need to create a research cluster so that we know who's who in the business, whom to reach out to for future collaboration. I hope the UGC will create a database of these researchers so that meaningful bonds can be established in the immediate future. We can even use the time difference between the home and host countries to work in our favour, as many Bangladeshi scholars or professionals can dedicate a few hours after their office to update us with some of the best practices.

Today marks the International Migrants Day. With the halo of our Golden Jubilee behind us, let's make the best use of the professionals who migrated to the industrialised nations. Let's recognise that they are our potential human resources for the socioeconomic development of our country. We need to go beyond the remittance logic, to consider every "brain drain" as a potential "brain gain" for our country. By tapping the valuable experiences of the intellectual elites, we can gain from the "human capital" and encourage a "diffusion of innovation."

Let's outspread and outwit the infectious crown-shaped virus by making knowledge contagious.

Dr Shamsad Mortuza is the pro-vice-chancellor of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB).