Edtech requires strategy, not slogans: BacBon CEO Abdul Matin Sheikh

Technology and ICT have become central to how modern education systems grow, expand access and improve quality. Digital tools now shape how teachers prepare lessons, how students learn, and how schools connect with national resources.

For Bangladesh, where closing the urban-rural gap remains a major challenge, technological change in education is no longer optional; it is essential to building a fair, skilled and future-ready generation. Today's political leadership increasingly appears to understand that progress in education will depend on how wisely technology is used in classrooms and teacher training systems.

This is reflected in BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman's vision of reducing urban-rural inequality by improving facilities for primary teachers and providing each teacher with a tablet under the "One Teacher, One Tab" initiative, enabling them to access quality training from remote areas. The vision deserves appreciation. Supporting teachers, expanding professional learning opportunities, and using technology to reach underserved areas are all positive signals for the country's future. For education technology experts, this ambition is a hopeful sign that education reform is being taken seriously. Many young people are now waiting to see such initiatives move from promise to practice.

However, international experience shows that technology programmes must be designed carefully to avoid costly mistakes. Large randomised studies and multi-country evaluations in Peru, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Nepal and Portugal suggest that simply distributing devices does not automatically improve learning outcomes. In Peru, Uruguay and Brazil, large-scale projects found that giving devices to users — whether students or teachers — often failed to improve learning, while many devices became unusable because of damaged parts and software problems. In Rwanda and Ethiopia, unstable internet and weak electricity left expensive devices sitting idle in classrooms. In Nepal and Ghana, teachers struggled because the tablets did not include clear, curriculum-based learning materials. These examples show that technology alone cannot solve educational challenges.

In rural Bangladesh, irregular electricity, slow internet connectivity and limited digital skills remain everyday realities. If these issues are not taken into account from the outset, even a well-intentioned idea can fail. To avoid the problems seen in countries such as Kenya or Portugal, a "One Teacher, One Tab" programme should not simply replace textbooks with screens. Instead, the tablet should function as a practical professional learning tool. It should include easy-to-use digital teacher guides, lesson plans aligned with the national curriculum, training videos that work offline, and simple assessment tools that support everyday classroom teaching.

The tablets should also be configured primarily for educational use, rather than unrelated activities. If live online training is introduced, the cost of internet access should be covered by the programme so that teachers are not forced to pay from their own pockets. Equally important are continuous teacher training, strong technical monitoring systems to identify problems quickly, and regular impact assessments to determine whether the programme is actually improving teaching and learning. It would also be wise to begin with a pilot in a limited number of schools before expanding nationwide, so that classroom challenges, teacher behaviour, technical reliability and learning impact can be properly assessed and refined.

The good news is that Bangladesh already has local experience to build such systems effectively. As one of the country's leading edtech organisations, BacBon Limited has shown how lessons can be delivered successfully through offline tablets in rural areas. Through projects supported by UNDP and the Asian Development Bank, it developed curriculum-aligned digital content, installed learning platforms on tablets, trained teachers, and carried out learning impact evaluations for SSC preparation. These projects demonstrate that local expertise already exists in content design, technology deployment, teacher support and monitoring.

If future national programmes draw lessons from both global evidence and local experience, Bangladesh can avoid repeating expensive mistakes. A carefully designed "One Teacher, One Tab" initiative can genuinely strengthen teachers, reduce inequality and modernise learning — but only if technology is treated as part of a complete education system, rather than a shortcut to reform.