Education Ministry tells schools, colleges to prepare by Feb 4 for reopening

The Ministry of Education has issued a notice for schools and colleges to be prepared for reopening at any time after February 4.

The notice also includes detailed guidelines from the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) for maintaining health safety measures at educational institutions.

“Not only to combat the coronavirus pandemic, during the Mujib Borsho the educational institutions must also have a clean, hygienic, safe, and joyful environment for the children,” added the notice.

The guidelines include preparing a budget for buying disinfectants, creating a routine for daily cleaning, orienting the cleaning crew for cleaning and disinfection, among other directives.

The DSHE guidelines instructed educational institutions to ensure at least three feet of space between seats for students, as well as mandatory use of masks.

The guidelines also suggested dividing students of each class into shifts to ensure social distancing and directed to ensure distance learning for those who are unwilling to attend classes physically.

Also read: Govt chalks out plan to reopen schools

The temperatures of students should be checked before they enter the campus, it added.

After around 10 months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government is finally moving towards restarting physical attendance at educational institutions.

"We are working on probable reopening procedures and hopefully it will be finalized by the government soon. The education minister will announce the procedure through a press conference," said Md Mahbub Hossain, secretary to the Secondary and Higher Education Division of the ministry.

In March last year, the government announced a nationwide lockdown and closed all educational institutions indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Although activities at both government and private offices were gradually restored, educational institutions have not been reopened yet.

On January 15, the Ministry of Education extended the ongoing shutdown of educational institutions till January 30.

Guidelines for educational institutions

1. Take necessary steps for monitoring health of all concerned (teachers, students, staff, cleaners) when entering the educational institution, every day

2. Compulsory use of three-layer masks for everyone 

3. Plan for the resumption of educational institutions in coordination with the local administration and the local health department

4. Prepare updated information about Covid-19 in simple language for students with the help of the local health department

5. Take necessary measures so that students can take part in educational activities and move around in the educational institution while maintaining physical distance as per health rules

6. Guidelines include separate section for teachers, outlining their modes of teaching