In-Person Classes: Govt shelves plan to raise the number

The government has suspended its plans to increase the number of in-person classes next year as the world braces for the impact from new Covid-19 variant Omicron.

Education Minister Dipu Moni yesterday communicated the change in the government's plans while visiting Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College exam centre in the capital on the first day of HSC and equivalent exams.

She said the government had earlier planned to increase the number of in-person classes next year, but the move has been suspended due to the emergence of the new variant. She added that the government may also shut down all educational institutions if the Covid-19 situation deteriorates.

She also said next year's Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams might take place in mid-2022.

"We have shortened the syllabus for the exams of 2022. We'd like students to be able to attend more classes, so we're hoping to hold the exams in the middle of the year," Dipu Moni said.

Partial reopening of schools and colleges took place on September 12 after 543 days of closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. At first candidates of SSC and HSC exams of 2021 and 2022 attended classes every day.

Students of other classes were required to attend in-person classes twice a week.

Meanwhile, HSC and equivalent exams began yesterday amid strict adherence to Covid-19 health guidelines by candidates inside exam centres. But most guardians outside the centres were seen not following the guidelines.

Candidates sitting for the exam in Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College, Siddheswari Girls' College and other centres had to enter the centre after going through crowds as guardians gathered in front of the exam centres, ignoring instructions of maintaining at least three feet's distance from each other.

Dipu Moni said health guidelines were maintained inside the centres and that in many places, guardians were crowding outside. She urged all to maintain the Covid-19 health guidelines.

The HSC and its equivalent exams started yesterday after a break of a year due to the pandemic. The exams for 2020 did not take place last year, with the results prepared based on the candidates' performance in previous public exams.

About 14 lakh students are taking part in this year's tests. Of them, 7.3 lakh are boys and 6.7 lakh are girls. About 11.4 lakh students are from the nine general education boards, 1.13 lakh under the madrasa education board and 1.48 lakh under the technical education board.

Meanwhile, at least 150 students of Biam College in Rangpur, under technical education board, sat for their HSC examinations with special permissions as they had not received their admit cards.

The Rangpur deputy commissioner's office made the special arrangement following the students' threat of agitation after they failed to get their cards till Wednesday afternoon, reported our Rangpur district correspondent.