Mohiuddin Alamgir

The elections to 204 union parishads and two municipalities and by-polls to the Laxmipur-2 constituency are going to be held today amid coronavirus fears.

Baffling -- is how one would describe the parliamentary session in which the Tk 13,987.3 crore supplementary budget for fiscal 2020-21 was passed.

Amidst a clamour to ensure digitalisation of all educational institutions and to get digital devices in the hands of all students, yesterday’s proposed budget for a Covid-battered education sector appeared to have glossed over those needs.

The outgoing vice-chancellor of Rajshahi University has violated the constitution, university law, and a government embargo by appointing 137 teachers and staffers on the last day of his office, found a probe committee.

Political parties of the country are likely to get another nine years to keep at least 33 percent positions of all committee at local and national levels reserved for women as all the major parties failed to ensure it before the deadline.

All services relating to National Identity (NID) cards are set to be shifted from the Election Commission to the home ministry.

The Election Commission is considering to hold by-election to the Laxmipur-2 constituency -- of Mohammad Shahid Islam, also known as Kazi Papul -- amid Covid-19 pandemic for constitutional obligation.

Over the last year and a half, the University Grants Commission had recommended taking action against at least four vice-chancellors of public universities upon investigation of their alleged corruption and irregularities.

The Covid-driven school closure of over a year has put millions of the country’s students at risk of learning loss, a new study has said.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) yesterday allowed public universities to hold exams online, considering students’ interests and also reducing session jams.

The appointment of a former additional secretary as treasurer of Bangamata Sheikh Fojilatunnesa Mujib Science and Technology University in Jamalpur has irked teachers of public universities.

Admission tests of public universities would be delayed due to the country’s coronavirus situation.

The University Grants Commission is considering allowing public universities to hold exams online keeping in mind that it would benefit students and also reduce session jams.

The education ministry is set to finalise the draft of the Education Act soon, keeping a provision for imposing ban on printing, publishing, and marketing notebooks and guidebooks.

The government faces a challenge in reaching the target population in need of financial assistance amid the Covid pandemic in the absence of a comprehensive database of poor people.

Ten months ago, a government-commissioned research report on the fallout of the pandemic-induced shutdown divulged some grim projections: over 1.64 crore people in the country would become new poor in the second quarter of 2020.

“Not at all. You are not a witness: you’re a part of history, Tawfiq.”

Shop owners and employees of New Market, Bashundhara City Shopping Mall and Sadarghat areas in Dhaka took to the streets to protest the government’s decision to keep all shops and malls closed during the seven-day restriction to contain Covid-19 surge.

The prolonged closure of schools is causing an education crisis that may cost Bangladesh and other South Asian countries over $1 trillion in lost earnings in the long run, according to a World Bank report.

The Election Commission yesterday postponed all elections, including the first phase of union parishad and sixth phase of municipality polls, due to a steep rise in coronavirus infections.