Staff Reporter:
Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni has indicated that educational institutions are likely to be opened from November 15 on a limited scale.
A decision in this regard will be taken for preparations of the SSC examinees and complete their syllabuses, she said.
The Education Minister was speaking at a virtual discussion organised by Bangladesh Education Reporters Forum (BERF), an organisation of a faction of education-related reporters working at the national level.
The discussion was organised to place the results of a survey conducted by BERF on online learning at educational institutions during the coronavirus pandemic.
All the educational institutions across the country were shut down from March 17 following the increase of coronavirus pandemic.
The annual examinations will also not be held this year. Except Qaumi madrasas, all the educational institutions will remain closed until November 14. The education minister has indicated that a decision whether the educational institutions will open from November 15 will be made public through a virtual press conference on Thursday.
“We have kept educational institutions closed till November 14. We are now working whether the educational institutions will be opened from November 15, or the holidays will be extended further, or we can resume classes in limited scale,” she said.
Dr Dipu Moni said, “We will try our best to inform the media about our decision before the November 14, because we will have to make a decision before November 14. We must have to convey a decision by tomorrow or day after tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked private universities not to enroll students in undergraduate programmes until the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination results have been published.
The commission’s Private University Division Director Md Fakhrul Islam Wednesday sent letters to private university vice-chancellors and registrars in this regard.
The letter said the results of HSC or equivalent examinations have yet to be published and the commission is concerned because some private universities have already opened admission for undergraduate programmes.
Amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, HSC and equivalent examinations results this year will be published on the basis of SSC and Junior School Certificate (JSC) exam grades.
The results are expected to be announced by December.
The commission has requested private universities start the admission process following the UGC rules and students’ eligibility after the publication of the HSC results.
As per the UGC’s rules, a private university admission aspirant must have a minimum second class or GPA of 2.50 or equivalent grade in both SSC and HSC or equivalent examinations.
However, if the student has a minimum GPA 2.00 in one of the exams, then his or her total GPA in both the examinations must be at least 6.00.
As the rule is still in effect, UGC said there is no scope for enrolling students in any university before the results of this year’s HSC and equivalent examinations are published.
