How COVID-19 Affected the Tertiary Education System of Bangladesh: The Students' Perspective

Aim: The main goal of the study is to comprehend how the new virtual mode of education has affected Bangladeshi students studying at the tertiary level and how they perceive its viability.

Design: This paper is based on a questionnaire survey consisting of 15 questions and the responses of 500 students from four different universities in Dhaka (125 students from every university) were collected.

Place and Duration of the Study: The universities involved were the Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), University of Asia Pacific (UAP), and Stamford University and the duration was from July 21, 2020 to November 23, 2021.

Methodology: The survey was conducted using both online and offline methods. While the campus was under strict lockdown, 167 participants responded via Google Form between July 2020–July 2021. The remaining data were collected using questionnaire forms when the campus reopened (between October 2021–November 2021).

Results: Bangladesh initiated a new virtual mode of study that has had an enormous impact on the learning pattern of students studying at different levels, particularly tertiary learners. According to the study, 25.5% of learners received no backup facility for missed classes. Regarding internet reliability, mobile data users (23.2%) found internet connection to be less reliable compared to wi-fi users (73.1%). Furthermore, the Chi-square analysis showed that internet reliability increased with internet cost, with the all-time stable internet connection being found at a monthly internet cost of 1500 BDT and above, which was not affordable for all students. In addition, respondents reported several negative health impacts due to using digital devices for an extended period of time. In the context of feasibility, only 13% of the respondents in this study believed that online education was feasible for implementation in Bangladesh.

Conclusions: The study pointed out several shortcomings of the adapted online medium of education among tertiary-level Bangladeshi students. Considering them, some recommendations have been provided including the suggestion to develop an integrated education system combining both the online and traditional medium.