Public universities were unwilling to adopt online classes during pandemic: PM Hasina

Photo: PID

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday said that public universities of the country were unwilling to adopt virtual or online classes while the government tried to introduce it during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Let me share a regretful matter. Our public universities were a little bit slow in using the digital system in education during the pandemic period. They were far behind (compared to the private universities)," she said.

The prime minister said this while attending the inaugural programme of Digital Bangladesh Day 2022 and distributing prizes among the winners of the Online Quiz Competition 2022.

The ICT Division organised the programme at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) with the theme "Advanced technology Inclusive Development."

Hasina said that at that time public universities were adamant against going for virtual or online classes.

While the private universities were quick to shift to online, the public universities lagged behind, she said. Even Dhaka University was not quick in making the change, she added.

She said that after repeated requests public universities in the country came to the path of virtual classes. 

"That was the reality. When a system is beneficial to us why we will not adopt that?" she questioned.

The prime minister said that If there was no Digital Bangladesh, imagine what would have happened during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Everything would come to a standstill," she said.