High schools and colleges across the country will reopen on 23 May as per a decision taken Thursday by the Ministry of Education.
Earlier in the afternoon, education minister Dipu Moni said that as the pandemic situation in the country is deteriorating, the educational institutions will be reopened after the forthcoming Eid-ul-Fitr.
The minister said, educational institutions will not reopen on March 30 due to the latest surge in Covid-19 cases and fatalities. However, all the educational institutions of the country will be reopened after Eid.
She was answering to questions from reporters at a discussion organized by Dhaka Metropolitan North and South Awami League, on the occasion of Genocide Day at Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital yesterday (Thursday).
If the corona infection rate continues to rise, the closure of primary, secondary and higher secondary level educational institutions may be extended till the Eid holiday in coordination with the closure of universities, the minister said.
A special decision was supposed to be taken after a meeting with the National Technical Committee on Corona yesterday andthe decision in this regard will be made public today (Friday).
“The decision to reopen educational institutions will be taken keeping the safety of all in mind,” she uttered stressing that the health of students, teachers and parents is the highest priority of the government.
All educational institutes in the country have been closed since March 17 last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But they were scheduled to reopen on March 30, as per announcement made by the government after holidays were extended several times.
The pandemic also resulted in the cancellation of last year's Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations.
However, the Ministry of Education does not want to reopen educational institutions right now as the corona infection has been on the rise again since the beginning of this month. Consequently, the holiday is expected to increase again, such an indication was given by Dipu Moni on Thursday.
As per the government declaration, public and private universities are set to resume classes on May 24 and residential halls are expected to reopen on May 17.Meanwhile, online classes will continue, but no examinations will be held before reopening of the universities.
