At least 18,000 Bangladeshi marginalised children were introduced to digital literacy through a joint project by BRAC and Google, said a press release issued by BRAC..
Under the project titled Stay Safe Online, 1,200 teachers received concepts by completing a set of courses and passed the ideas to the students.
The project was implemented to ensure digital independence for children and keep them safe online, the project stakeholders said while sharing the achievements, challenges, and learning at the concluding event of the project at a resort in Gazipur.
Interactive videos in Bangla were developed as course contents to encourage the participating children to self-learning. Trained teachers propagated the learning of the videos among the students.
The training curriculum was designed to include six courses --- two on internet usage and internet safety, empathy and internet behaviour, privacy and fake news, health internet relationships and handling negative behaviour on the internet.
Director general of the National Academy for Primary Education, Md Shah Alam, planning and development director of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education AQM Shafiul Azam and additional director general of the Directorate of Primary Education Dilip Kumar Banik, among others, attended the event as special guests.
According to Online Safety of Children in Bangladesh, a 2019 study commissioned by UNICEF Bangladesh, about 32 per cent of children in Bangladesh, aged between 10 and 17 years, face cyber-bullying, violence, and harassment online.
According to another study conducted by the Information and Communication Technology Division of Bangladesh, 64 per cent of girls in the cities and 33 per cent in the rural areas become victims of cyber-bullying and harassment.
Source: https://www.newagebd.net/article/192352/18000-marginalised-children-receive-digital-literacy
