The Education Ministry is set to decide in one or two days whether to extend the ongoing closures of schools and colleges considering the recent surge in Covid-19 cases and fatalities, Secondary and Higher Education Division Secretary Md Mahbub Hossain told Bangla Tribune on Wednesday.
“Once finalized, the decision will be disclosed to all,” he said.
Education Ministry Information Officer MA Khair echoed Mahbub Hossain in saying that a decision on extending the closures is yet to be taken.
On March 15, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said the government is considering further extensions to the closure of educational institutes.
The Covid-19 situation has drastically worsened in the past few days, leading students, teachers and guardians to panic about reopenings. Some media outlets have already run news reports claiming a potential extension to the closures.
Asking for anonymity, some officials at the Education Ministry hinted that a further extension in the works as the Covid-19 pandemic is getting worse in Bangladesh.
On March 16 last year, the government closed all educational institutions in an effort to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. The closures were extended in several phases, with the latest extension on February 27 when it was decided that the schools and colleges would reopen on March 30.
The pandemic also resulted in the cancellation of last year's Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent exams.
The government has also scrapped Primary Education Completion (PEC) exams for fifth graders, the Junior School Certificate (JSC) and Junior Dakhil Certificate (JDC) exams for eighth graders, and the annual exams for students of grades 6-10.
Public and private universities are set to resume on May 24 and residential halls are supposed to reopen on May 17. Online classes will continue, but no examinations will be held before the reopening of the universities.
