Staff Reporter :
The government has decided to reopen schools and colleges across the country from 12 September after more than one-and-a-half years.
The decision was taken in a joint meeting of the Education Ministry, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education and the National Technical Advisory Committee held on Thursday night.
Officials said schools and colleges would return to in-person classes based on a standard operating procedure (SoP). The education ministry will adopt the SoP as per local context and requirements in consultation with local administration and school-college management.
They said operating procedures of the educational institutions would be finalized at a meeting to be held at the education ministry on Sunday.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to reopen all the schools and colleges on September 12 as per the decision,” said Education Minister Dipu Moni.
The Minister came up with the disclosure while talking to journalists after inaugurating a newly-constructed building of Mohamaya Government Primary School at Sadar upazila in Chandpur on Friday.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the government is taking measures to reopen educational institutions across the country soon.
All educational institutions in Bangladesh have been closed since March last year following the coronavirus outbreak. However, after suspending in-person education, online classes have been continuing in limited scale since then.
Regarding the opening of universities, Dipu Moni said the decision is still pending as the Vice Chancellors of public universities want to see that all the students are vaccinated-at least get the first dose of Covid-19 vaccines.
“We’ll hold another meeting with them. If they want, they can reopen at the same time with other educational institutions or fix another date following the decision of the syndicate committees of their universities,” she said.
Dipu Moni also said the educational institutions will have to send mandatory regular reports on abiding by the health guidelines and Covid-19 situation on the campus.
“Three things must be ensured-teachers and students should be allowed to enter to the educational institutions by checking temperature, following the hygiene rules, especially wearing masks, and maintaining social distance,” said Professor Syed Md Golam Faruk, Director General of Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education.
He added: “These rules must be followed strictly after reopening of educational institutions. We will asses the situation and take measures accordingly.”
“We will closely monitor and report on each school every week. Classes will be held on alternate days where there are not enough classrooms,” said Md Belal Hossain, Director, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday said all state-run and private medical colleges in Bangladesh would reopen from September 13 in a staggered manner.
The decision to resume classroom teaching has been taken by the government in view of the improving Covid-19 situation in the country, the Minister told reporters after a meeting at the Secretariat on Thursday.
