The government has decided to open schools and colleges from March 30.
The decision was taken at an inter-ministerial meeting at the Secretariat on Saturday, Education Minister Dipu Moni told the media.
“Although the schools and colleges will reopen from March 30, classes will not be held everyday for all grades. Students of 5th, 10th, and 12th grades will have classes every day, while the rest of the grades will have classes one day a week. The number of classes per week will be increased gradually and we will return to normal in phases,” she said.
If any educational institution needs to be renovated, it will be repaired in collaboration with the ministry and the local administration, the minister added.
A 60-day syllabus for the SSC and an 80-day syllabus for HSC have been prepared, she further said.
“So far, three million people have been inoculated. As the vaccination rate increases, educational institutions will be able to conduct their normal academic activities,” said Dipu Moni before adding about 150,000 primary school teachers have been vaccinated already.
Regarding universities, she said: “A letter was sent to all universities through the UGC on Wednesday. The authority of the university will send the names, addresses, and NID information of residential students. These will be handed over to the Department of Health Services so that they can ensure vaccination.”
Just five days ago, the government announced plans to reopen universities in May.
Public and private universities will resume on May 24 and residential halls will be reopened on May 17. Online classes will continue but no examination will be held before the reopening of the universities.
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 28 this year.
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.
