Education institutes being prepared for reopening

Education minister Dr Dipu Moni has said that the country’s education institutes will be ready to host students by September 9, before finally reopening three days later - bringing to an end what Unicef has called the world’s second-longest schools closure due to Covid-19.

“Ministry officials will complete field inspections within Sep 9 to observe whether the institutions are fully prepared to open their doors for students,” she said.

“No one will be allowed entry to school and colleges without a mask after reopening. The parents will have to play a vital role in this,” she added.

Dipu Moni was speaking to the press after an inter-ministerial meeting at the cabinet division on Sunday.

The decision to reopen all the primary, secondary and higher secondary-level educational institutions on September 12 was finalised at the meeting.

After the reopening, the SSC and HSC examinees of 2020-2021, and the students of class 5 will attend classes regularly while the students of class 1-4 and 6-9 will attend classes once a week initially, Dipu Moni further said. Eventually, all the classes will be held regularly.

Regarding the reopening of universities, the education minister said there will be a meeting with the

syndicate committees of the universities, and those may be reopened in October as there is a vaccination issue. The fact that most university

students avail communal housing in halls makes vaccination imperative in their case.

Replying to a question, Dipu Moni said the preparations to hold JSC, JDC and all the final exams will be taken in advance.

Regarding the vaccination of the under-12s, she said the decision will be taken as per the recommendation of the technical committee and in view of the availability of vaccines.

Earlier, on August 26, the government extended the closure of secondary and higher secondary-level educational institutions until September 11.

The government shut the educational institutions on March 17, 2020 after the country reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8 and later the closure was extended several times.