Sick students won’t be marked as absent

Students who will miss in-person classes being infected with Covid-19 or having symptoms will not be counted as "absent" in the school attendance if they show proof, education ministry top officials said.

Many guardians were worried about whether the authorities will count students who will miss in-person classes being infected with Covid-19 or having symptoms, in the school attendance.

They said that the government took a positive step of resuming in-person classes at schools and colleges in phases. But there are some issues like the infection rate of Covid-19 is still around 9 to 10 percent.

"Many students have a chance of getting infected to Covid-19 to and from school. Even in some case, there are chances of getting infected to the virus on the campus, if the health guidelines were not strictly maintained," said Jamal Sarkar, guardian of an HSC candidate of Mirpur Girls' Ideal Laboratory Institute.

He said that usually school-age children do not want to wear a face mask for a long period. Students would meet with each other after many days they would mingle with their peers and play with each other.

"If any family member of a student is infected with Covid-19 and the pupil misses classes for that he or she will also not be counted as absent", said Secondary and Higher Education Division Secretary Mahbub Hossain.

"But students and their guardians will need to submit the proofs as they were or their families were infected with Covid-19 to the school authorities," he told The Daily Star.

The covid-19 positive report will be accepted as proof, he said.

The government on September 5 decided to resume in-person classes at school in phases.

According to the decision, Higher Secondary Certificate, Secondary School Certificate of 2021 and 2022 and candidates of this year's Primary Education Completion Exam (PECE), would attend classes every day after schools and colleges reopen.

Students of classes 1 to 4 and 6 to 9 will have in-person classes once a week.

The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education yesterday sent a standard operating procedure (SOP) of health guidelines to follow when schools resume classes, to all headteachers.

It asked headteachers to ensure all students, teachers and staff wear masks and that physical distancing at the classroom. Taking immediate measures if any Covid 19 symptoms were found with student's, teachers and staff.

Allowing a student to go for quarantine or isolation for 14 days without counting them as not absent.

It asked teachers to give a motivational brief to students at the beginning of class. And ensure that no student leaves the classroom until the next teacher enters the class.

The SOP instructed students to inform any unwellness immediately to parents and teachers. Not to go outside the classroom without any valid reason.

The SOP urged guardians to inform headteachers if any of their family members were infected with Covid 19. It also urged parents to discourage their children not to take food from outside.

While unveiling the government's reopening plan, Education Minister Dipu Moni on September 5, said that the government will monitor the Covid-19 situation closely after reopening and whether the health guideline was followed properly or not.

Educational institutions were closed across the country on March 17 last year to curb the spread of Covid-19. The closure led to the cancellation of classes and examinations, throwing the academic lives of more than four crore students of around 1.5 lakh educational institutions in disarray.

Covid 19 infection started galloping in the second wave started in mid-March this year and it reached its highest on July 24 with an all-time highest positivity rate of 33 percent on that day.

From the beginning of August, the positivity rate started declining steadily with 8.76 percent yesterday.