School, college reopening on September 12

Bangladesh is set to reopen all educational institutions across the country on September 12 after a year and a half of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic, report agencies.

The SSC and HSC exams will also go ahead as planned, Education Minister Dipu Moni said during a visit to Chandpur on Friday.

"The decision was taken in a joint meeting of the Education Ministry, Ministry of Primary and Mass education and the National Technical Advisory Committee held on Thursday night," she said.

"We have already made arrangements for the reopening [of schools]. We have fixed Sept 12 [as the reopening date] in line with the instructions of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina," she said.

"Even after the educational institutions are reopened, the assignment process will continue."

All educational institutions throughout the country have been closed since March 2020 due to the pandemic.

The government has made several attempts to reopen schools, but have been thwarted in their efforts by fresh waves of infections. As such students have not been able to return to classrooms in a year and a half.

In the face of mounting pressure from many quarters to reopen educational institutions, the government said it was waiting for teachers and students to get vaccinated and for the pandemic to reach a 'tolerable level'.

But now, most of the teachers have been vaccinated, while students aged at least 12 will also be brought under the immunisation programme, Dipu Moni told reporters.

Meanwhile, the SSC exams are scheduled to start in November, with the HSC tests taking place a month later in December.

Regarding the opening of universities, the minister said the decision is still pending as the Vice Chancellors of public universities want to see all the students are vaccinated-- at least the first dose of Covid-19 vaccines.

"We'll hold another meeting with them. If they want, they can reopen with other educational institutions or fix another date following the decision of the syndicate committees of their universities," said Dipu Moni.

Even after reopening, she said, the educational institutions will have to send mandatory regular reports on abiding by health guidelines and Covid-19 situation.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has issued a directive to bring people aged above 12 under the vaccination campaign and it will kick off as soon as the government manages the vaccines eligible for this age group, the minister added.

The pandemic-related school closures in the country affected about 38 million students though the government introduced TV-based learning programmes for them.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said the government is taking measures to reopen educational institutions across the country soon.