Meeting of the DiversAsia projectpartners in Bangladesh at the Jahangirnagar University Institute of Technology

Meeting of the DiversAsia projectpartners in Bangladesh at the Jahangirnagar University Institute of Technology

In January 2023, the project team from the University of Latvia, represented by prof. Linda Daniela and Astra Rudolfa went to Bangladesh, Dhaka where the 5th physical project meeting took place in the framework of the project DIVERSASIA: Embracing diversity in ASIA through the adoption of Inclusive Open Practices. Jahangirnagar University's Institute of Technology hosted the project partners for two day staff meeting and project workshop “International Workshop on Inclusive Higher Education: Bangladesh Context”.

Jahangirnagar University accustomed as a fully residential public university established in 1970 has now 36 departments and Six Faculties along with four institutes, with added than fifteen thousand students and about Five hundred academics adherent to teaching and research. Institute of Information Technology began in 1987 with the mission to create splendid students by enhancing knowledge and competitiveness through excellent education, hands-on experience, state-of-the-art research, and industry collaboration in computer sciences.

The meeting of project partners took place from January 4 to 7. One of the deliverables of this project is the development of a practical online toolkit to further assess and analyze existing inclusive higher education practices and accessibility in Indian and Bangladeshi universities, as well as provide practical recommendations to successfully promote the implementation of the basic principles of inclusive education in higher education institutions. The partners evaluated the progress made so far in the development of the online toolkit and agreed on further work on its improvement. In addition, the project team prepared for academic staff and student training and testing of the online tool in Indian and Bangladeshi universities.

In the remaining two days, representatives of the University of Latvia and the project participated in the International Workshop on Inclusive Higher Education: Bangladesh Context, 6 – 7 January 2023 at the Jahangirnagar Institute of Technology.  The main goal of this workshop was to share possibilities of promoting inclusive education using the opportunities provided by technology and different pedagogical approaches. Professor Linda Daniela presented the research conducted by the University of Latvia, DiversAsia: findings from Staff and Student surveys in the Bangladesh context, about the experience and competence of employees of higher education institutions in Bangladesh in implementing inclusive education. On the second day of the workshop, L.Daniela shared practical advice and experience, what criteria should been followed when introducing aspects of inclusive education in higher education institutions and what basic principles should be taken into account when preparing teaching materials for students with special needs. Other representatives of the project also spoke at the workshop on not only the topics of technology and the creation of various digital learning tools for students with special needs, but also shared practical experience in implementing and providing inclusive education in higher education institutions.

The University of Latvia is grateful for this project visit with the special thanks to the team of Jahangirnagar University of Technology for well-organized meeting in Bangladesh and for taking care of the project partners. Another meeting of the project partners in Asia will take place in the fall of 2023, when the project partners are going to visit both India and Bangladesh to summarize the tasks completed in the project.

Partners involved in the project:

The project involves 11 partners from different European and Asian countries - India, Bangladesh, England, Bulgaria, Belgium, Turkey, Latvia.

The University of Latvia is represented in the project by: Prof. Linda Daniela (project manager), Art Rūdolfa (project researcher), Astra Rūdolfa (assistant project manager).

Project Nr.: 618615-EPP-1-2020-UK-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP.

Project term: from January 15, 2021 to January 14, 2024.

The total amount of funding allocated to the project is EUR 1 00 00 00,00.