Home ›› 04 Sep 2021 ›› Front
The government is all set to reopen all educational institutions up to higher secondary level from September 12, after nearly a 1.5 year-long closure following the coronavirus pandemic.
Educationists hailed the decision of the government.
Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni on Friday said that all preparation to reopen all the primary, secondary and higher secondary level educational institutions have been completed.
She also mentioned that the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations will be held in November this year, while the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations will be held in December.
Speaking to the media after inaugurating the new building of Mahamaya Govt Primary School in Chandpur Sadar upazila, the minister said the decision was taken following directives from the prime minister.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told the parliament that she has directed authorities concerned to reopen all schools and colleges soon and that they were taking necessary steps in this regard.
On March 17, 2020, the government closed all educational institutions to contain the spread of Covid-19 after detecting the first virus case on March 8.
The closure was repeatedly extended several times during the pandemic, although the government allowed reopening of businesses time and again due to surges in Covid infections.
On August 31, the government for finally extended the education vacation till September 11.
The National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19 suggested reopening of the country’s educational institutions as the infection rate has been witnessing a downward trend.
Following a meeting on Thursday, NTAC Chairman Mohammad Shahidullah said as more and more people were being vaccinated, educational institutions can now be reopened considering the overall situation while taking some precautionary measures regarding public health.
Educationist Abul Kashem Fazlul Haque told The Business Post that education in the country was hampered due to coronavirus pandemic like all most every country of the world.
“I welcome the decision to reopen schools and colleges,” he said adding that after reopening, schools might face some unwanted problems.
Schools should be given the authority to address their own problems because they might face different issues depending on their teaching style and geographical locations.
He suggested the government not to take even the JSC and the PSC examinations centrally.
Public health experts suggested that the government should reopen educational institutions following health guidelines.
Mohammd Mushtuq Husain, an adviser of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), said that school authorities should teach and practice public health guidelines to their students.
“Washing hands and using masks has many others benefits in addition to fighting Covid, and teacher can ensure this practice,” he said.
Since last year, students of different universities and educationists have been long demanding reopening educational institutes. Bangladesh has recently been witnessing a downward trend in Covid infections following a surge caused by the Delta variant.
Bangladesh reported 70 new coronavirus-related deaths and 3,167 infections in a 24-hour period till 8:00am on Friday, which took the total caseload to 15,10,283 and total fatalities to 26,432.
