Schools may reopen in February last week

The Ministry of Education is planning to resume in-person classes from February last week. The ministry will send letters to educational institutions by 17 February, instructing them to make preparations to resume academic activities, according to ministry sources.

"All educational institutions in the country will be reopened soon as the number of Covid-19 cases is decreasing day by day," Education Minister Dipu Moni said on Friday at a meeting with district and metropolitan Awami League leaders at the Sylhet Circuit House auditorium.

Professor Nazrul Islam, noted virologist and member of the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19, told The Business Standard, "The infection rate is about 15% now; although the fatality rate is rising, it is possible to resume classes following health guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the health ministry."

During the reopening phase, the education ministry will emphasise the health safety of teachers and students at the institutions during classes. Only vaccinated students will be able to attend in-person classes at schools and colleges.

Students who will take part in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC), Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) examinations this year and the next year and Primary Education Completion examination this year will attend classes six days a week. The students will be allowed to stay at school for only four hours.

Students of classes one, two, three, four, six, seven, eight and nine will attend two classes a day every week. One student will sit alone on a bench, maintaining at least three feet distance from other students. 

Meanwhile, West Bengal has resumed in-person classes from 3 February after a month-long school closure for the second time. The Covid-19 infection rate there is below 5% now while it is above 15% in Bangladesh. 

Earlier on 27 January, to avert a learning catastrophe and put children back on the learning track, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) recommended keeping schools open as an estimated 616 million children are currently affected by full or partial school closures. 

In a press statement, the Executive Director of Unicef, Henrietta Fore, said, "We need bold action to enable every child to return to school. This includes providing comprehensive support with a particular focus on marginalised children in each community, such as catch-up classes, mental health and nutrition support, protection and other key services." 

Before that, on 17 March 2020, educational institutions went into closure because of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Schools and colleges were closed from 21 January to 6 February for the second time and later it was extended till 21 February this year.  

90% of students above 12 vaccinated with first dose

At least 90% of students aged above 12 have already got the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccines. The number of such students is about 1.5 crore. Of them, over 35 lakhs received the second dose of vaccines. As per the direction of the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19, all students who received the first dose can take part in in-person classes.  

According to a government estimate, there are around two lakh educational institutions in the country from the primary to higher secondary levels, with four and a half crore students and over 12 lakh teachers.

DU, RU to resume in-person classes 

Dhaka University will resume in-person classes for first-year undergraduate students from 22 February. An official notice released by the Public Relations Office of the university on Friday said that the classes would be held in line with proper health guidelines and that routine examinations would also commence.

Previously, following a spike in Covid-19 infections, the government enforced a few restrictions to curb the infection rate on 21 January. The measures included halting in-person classes in schools and colleges.

Following this decision, most of the universities, including Dhaka University, halted in-person classes from 21 January till 6 February. The restrictions were later extended till 21 February.

Meanwhile, Rajshahi University will resume classes on February 22 but their ongoing exams will be held on time. 

No plan on learning losses yet 

An alarming number of students are facing learning losses due to the closure of institutions as most students could not attend online classes owing to a shortage of digital devices and costly internet packages. But the ministry is yet to take up any plan to recover learning losses. 

The ministry also lacks any substantial data on how many students are facing learning losses and are at the risk of dropping out. Prof Md Moshiuzzaman, chairman of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB), told TBS that the board had been planning to prepare a draft to recover learning losses but it was not followed through.