School curricula to be abridged if Covid-19 crisis worsens

The curricula for primary and secondary levels of education may be abridged if the Covid-19 situation worsens in the country.

The ministries concerned said they are observing the developments closely and are thinking of shortening the syllabuses as the pandemic has already caused a major academic disruption.

"It will be tough for students to recover from the academic losses. We will take a decision to concise the syllabus if the [Covid-19] situation aggravates," said Md Mahbub Hossain, secretary (secondary and higher education) to the education ministry.

The ministry will prepare a detailed plan for the education sector if the situation deteriorates, he added.

There are about 5 crore students in over 130,000 primary and around 30,000 secondary schools across Bangladesh.

The West Bengal government in neighbouring India has recently announced that students from pre-primary to the eighth grade in the state will be promoted without examinations due to the coronavirus fallout. Their educational institutions will remain closed till June 10.

The education ministry of Bangladesh is also planning to shut down institutions till the first week of June, according to sources.

In the meantime, the ministry concerned has already cancelled the first-term examinations for the primary students and is thinking of curtailing future exams too.

Director General of the Directorate of Primary Education Md Fasiullah said they will shorten the syllabuses and trim exams if the situation goes beyond control.

"Firstly, we will try to recover the losses. But if the situation goes bad, we will have nothing to do but shorten the curricula," he said.

"We are teaching students through online classes. But some students are deprived of getting the facilities. But we have to complete the ongoing [academic] year. So, it will be necessary to cut the syllabuses," the director general said.

Professor Ziaul Haque, chairman of the Dhaka Education Board, said they have not received any such decision yet.

"Shortening the syllabuses can be the best option. But, we have to wait to see how the situation unfolds in the upcoming days," he said.

The education ministry closed all educational institutions from March 17 to March 31 at first. Later, the shutdown was extended twice to April 25.

Meanwhile, the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams have also been postponed. Over 12 lakh examinees are passing days in uncertainty as they do not know when, or whether, the exams will begin. The exams were scheduled to begin on April 1.

The ministry is trying to recover academic losses through airing recorded classes on the state-owned Sangsad Television. But many have raised questions over their quality.

Also, a good number of students cannot watch the classes as they have no television sets.

Professor Syed Golam Faruk, director general of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, said they are trying to provide quality lessons to students.

"However, we are not thinking of promoting our students to the next classes like West Bengal. Time will determine our work plan," he said.

When asked about the HSC exams, he replied it is impossible to appear for exams now.

"We cannot hold the exams when the government is emphasising social distancing."

The classes and exams of all public and private universities have also been suspended for an indefinite period.