Closure of educational institutes likely to be extended
All schools and colleges were scheduled to reopen on May 23 and the universities on the next day, as per the previous decision of the government.
The government is considering to extend the closure of all educational Institutes as the country battles with the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.
All schools and colleges were scheduled to reopen on 23 May and the universities on the next day, as per the previous decision of the government.
"It won't be possible to reopen educational institutes by 23 May and 24 May as the government is considering to extend the restrictions of ongoing lockdown for one more week", Deputy Minister for Education Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury told media on Saturday.
Currently, the government is mulling extension of the current lockdown restrictions as the detection of deadly Indian variant of Covid-19 in the country has triggered great concerns.
The Indian variant was reportedly found in two patients of Dhaka North City Corporation's dedicated Covid-19 hospital and in six more at Jahsore recently.
Meanwhile, coronavirus infections soared in India, setting a new world record for cases over the past few weeks as the new Covid variant is highly contagious, according to the health experts. The second wave of the virus pushed the Indian health system to its limit where hospitals are running out of oxygen, beds, and antiviral drugs.
Even if, academies reopen after a certain period, all educational institutes will not reopen, according to the sources of the Education Ministry. Firstly, the classes of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinees will resume with short curriculum. Later, the government has plan to hold the examinations.
All educational institutes remained closed for past 14 months due to the Covid-19 pandemic which has inflicted severe harm on the academic life of students.
The government earlier decided to reopen the school, colleges on May 23 and universities on May 24 following the recommendations of the National Technical Adviser Committee on Covid-19.
On 25 March, Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni announced that all schools and colleges across the country will reopen after Eid.
Earlier, the government had decided to reopen the educational institutions on 30 March this year, after more than a year of shutdown over the Covid-19 pandemic. On 22 February this year, the ministry decided to reopen all universities on 24 May and university halls on 17 May.
On 16 March last year, the education ministry issued a press release regarding the government's decision to close all educational institutions and coaching centres from 18 to 31 March, considering students' safety amid the global pandemic.
Later, the closure was extended several times – first till 9 April, then 25 April, 5 May, 30 May, 6 August, 31 August, 3 October, 31 October, 14 November, 19 December last year, and 16 January, 30 January and 30 March this year.
Classes remained suspended since schools were closed but administrative activities had resumed gradually. The government also decided not to hold last year's Primary School Certificate (PSC), Junior School Certificate (JSC), Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and their equivalent exams due to the pandemic.
The PSC and JSC examinees got automatic promotion to the next class, while HSC students were assessed based on their JSC and Secondary School Certificate (SSC) results.
All students from primary to secondary level were also promoted automatically. There are about 4.5 crore students from pre-primary to higher education level at around two lakh educational institutions across the country.
