Emergence of Polarization and Marginalization in Online Education System of Bangladesh Due to COVID-19: Challenges and Policies to Ensure Inclusive Education

Before COVID-19, online learning was almost non-existent in the educational institutions of Bangladesh. Unavailability of Internet and proper devices among the students, lack of training, and the unwillingness of the institutions in integrating a new way of providing education were the main reasons behind the less prevalence of online education in Bangladesh. Due to their lack of experience, design policies, and infrastructural incapacity, educational institutions struggled enormously to make the transition to online learning from face-to-face teaching during this ongoing pandemic. Primary and secondary educational institutions are the major victims of this hasty transformation. Although universities in Bangladesh are trying to continue their regular academic curriculum, the real scenario is far from perfect. To understand the problems of the online education system of Bangladeshi universities, we conducted a survey among 184 students. The user responses were analyzed in two different ways: unsupervised clustering that revealed socio-economic polarization among the students; and feature specific statistical analysis that identified the emerging marginal student groups. Our analysis shows that the factors behind the polarization and marginalization of students include locality, living conditions, primary device for attending class, Internet connectivity etc. Based on these factors, we lay out an inclusive design policy with three action plans that would reduce the polarization and marginalization of university students in online education.