Staff Reporter :
Education Minister Dipu Moni on Monday said all educational institutions will remain closed till March 31, starting from today (Tuesday), as a preventive measure against the spread of coronavirus.
“Students are being requested to stay in their respective homes and remain cautious,” the education minister said
The decision came from a cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair. Dipu Moni said: “The guardians need to ensure students remain safe at home and they are also requested to cancel all sorts of trips outside their homes in an effort to stem the spread of coronavirus across the country.
“Students will not be allowed to go to coaching centres as well,” she added
The education minister also said: “The government will also order the field-level administration to not allow students to go outside their homes.”
The government has also cancelled all kinds of programmes at schools for celebrating the Mujib year.
However, teachers will hold the tree plantation programme by avoiding mass gathering at the school premises.
Dipu Moni said the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination is scheduled to begin from April 1. However, the government has still not taken any decision over cancellation of the examination. It will observe the situation first and then take the decision.
According to the scientific guidelines of preventing coronavirus, she said, Bangladesh is yet to reach the situation to cancel the classes. However, due to concerns from various stakeholders, the government has taken the decision.
The education minister said: “When the situation improves, the government will adjust the leave with the summer vacation in order to cover the syllabus.”
Till date, eight cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in Bangladesh. Of them, three people were released upon recovery as per IEDCR on Monday.
The fast spreading coronavirus, declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), has claimed more than 6,500 lives and infected around 170,000 people across the globe, according to worldometers.
