Students belonging to grades 12, 10, and 5 would need to attend classes daily as schools and colleges reopen from September 12, Education Ministry Dr Dipu Moni has said.
The minister said this after the decision was finalized at an inter-ministerial meeting at the cabinet division on Sunday.
All educational institutions except universities across Bangladesh are set to reopen in phases from September 12.
After the reopening, the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) examinees of 2020-2021, and the Primary Education Completion (PEC) examinees will attend classes regularly while the students of grades 1-4 and 6-9 will attend classes once a week initially, Dipu Moni said.
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Later, all the classes will be held regularly, she added.
Now, only a few months remain for the SSC, HSC, and PEC candidates. Once their term comes to an end, at the end of the year, regular classes would start for Classes 9 and 11, the minister said.
Regarding the reopening of universities, the minister said there will be a meeting with the syndicate committees of the universities, and those may reopen in October as there is a vaccination issue.
Replying to a question, Dipu Moni said the preparations to hold JSC, JDC and all the final exams will be taken in advance. The exam however will be held assessing the Covid-19 situation at the time.
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"All will need to wear masks and maintain health guidelines at educational institutes. The decision may change if the Covid-19 situation deteriorates," said the minister.
Regarding the vaccination of the under-12, she said the decision will be taken as per the recommendation of the technical committee as per the availability of vaccines.
Meanwhile, the Health Minister on Saturday said those between the age group 12-18 may have an opportunity to receive Moderna or Pfizer vaccines as per recommendation of the World Health Organization (WHO).
However, the Directorate General of Health Services on Sunday said there are no such plans as they are yet to receive any word from the government on the matter.
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Earlier, on August 26, the government had extended the closure of secondary and higher secondary level educational institutions until September 11.
The government shut the schools, colleges, madrasas, and universities across the country back in mid-March last year after health authorities detected the first Covid-19 cases. Later, the closure was extended several times.
With the authorities recording a drop in Covid-19 cases and deaths in recent weeks, Education Minister Dipu Moni on Friday said that they were planning to reopen the primary, secondary, and higher secondary educational institutions – including schools, colleges and madrasas – from September 12.
On Saturday, Deputy Minister for Education Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel said the Ministry of Education is planning to take classes once a week after the reopening of the schools and colleges on September 12.
The long closure of schools and colleges due to the Covid-19 pandemic has created a mental pressure on the students and there had been efforts to continue education online but that was not enough, Nowfel added.
