Schools can open for students of class-VI and above

The National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19 yesterday said all educational institutions could be reopened now for students of class six and above as the transmission of the virus declined significantly.

The committee made the observation at a meeting with Education Minister Dipu Moni last night.

"As the overall Covid situation has improved significantly, we have opined that educational institutions can be opened now maintaining health protocols strictly and ensuring double-dose vaccine for all students," Dr Mohammad Shahidullah, president of the NTAC, told The Daily Star after the meeting.

He, however, said no recommendation was made for resumption of classes for primary students.

Meanwhile, the education ministry will hold a press conference at the secretariat at 11:00am today regarding the opening of educational institutions, said a ministry circular yesterday.

Earlier in the day, Education Minister Dipu Moni said the government is going to resume in-person academic activities in all educational institutions this month.

Speaking at a programme in Chandpur, she said they were yet to fix the date for reopening of educational institutions.

She said they would talk with the prime minister about the matter. "But all students will have to maintain Covid health protocol."

The minister's comments came two days after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said educational institutions would reopen at the end of this month if the Covid-19 situation improved.

Following a sharp rise in the Covid infection rate in the country, the government shut down all schools and colleges for two weeks from January 21. The closure was later extended to February 21.

However, Unicef on January 28 urged governments across the world to keep schools open to avert a learning catastrophe and put children back on the learning track.

Partial classroom teaching resumed in the country on September 12 last year after a 543-day closure caused by the pandemic. This was one of the longest school closures in the world.

As many as 39.63 lakh primary and 39 lakh secondary students in the country were at the risk of learning loss due to the long school closure, according to a joint study by Power and Participation Research Centre and Brac Institute of Governance and Development, published on October 19 last year.

The closure left academic calendars in disarray.

The government cancelled Primary Education Completion Examinations and Junior School Certificate exams for 2020 and 2021 as well as the HSC exams of 2020.

Last year's SSC and HSC exams were held on curtailed syllabuses with fewer subjects.

Following the closure, the government launched TV education programmes through the state-run Sangsad Television channel for secondary and primary students. Later, it asked all schools to introduce online education.

Most of the students in urban areas have access to learning through the internet, but the digital divide has so far proved to be a great disadvantage for the underprivileged learners, mainly for a lack of devices and poor access to the internet.

At the end of last year, the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education asked all secondary schools to start giving assignments to students.