Students back to regular classes after two years

Rifat Sultana, a sixth grader at the MDC Model Institute, was wearing a mask, but it could not cover the delight shining in her eyes, reports bdnews24.com.

"Now we shall have classes every day, not just once a week. I'm so happy. It feels like everything is back to normal," she said.

Bangladesh resumed regular in-person academic classes at all of its educational institutions after 726 days of combating the coronavirus pandemic. In-person classes will be held every weekday on all subjects.

Parents are content to see their children back at brick-and-mortar schools with regular academic sessions after two years. They hope the children will be able to make up for the lack of classes during the pandemic as things return to normal.

Primary students began having regular in-person classes on March 02, but classes were still limited for secondary school students. On Tuesday, students at secondary schools returned to their regular academic routine.

For pre-schoolers, classes have resumed after a long two-year break. Pre-schools were running online classes amid the pandemic, which means, many of the pre-schoolers went to the brick-and-mortar schools on Tuesday for the first time since they enrolled.

HSC, SSC examinees and tenth graders were also having classes every day, but the lessons were scaled down to four and three subjects respectively.

Students of grades eight and nine had lessons on three subjects twice a day, while sixth and seventh graders had classes once a week, learning three subjects.

As students returned, educational institutions become vibrant on Tuesday. The neighbourhoods housing them also seemed to return to normal.

The Covid-19 pandemic had upended regular academic sessions across the country. Bangladesh reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8, 2020. As the pathogen spread, the government imposed wide restrictions which included the closure of educational institutions.

As the Covid-19 infection spread further, the Ministry of Education extended the closure in different phases for one and a half years. As the pandemic ebbed a bit, educational institutions reopened on September 12 last year.

But while educational institutions were operating classes to a limited extent, they were shut again on January 21 when omicron, the new variant of the virus, began to spread. The institutions were shut for another month in the face of the new threat.

Although schools and colleges reopened on February 22, students had to wait for regular in-person academic classes to start on Tuesday.

Tauhida Islam, a student of grade eight in Rashid Ideal High School in Mirpur--12 was elated to return to regular classes.

"Before this we were having in-person classes twice a week. I don't feel like studying at home. I can meet my teachers and friends in school and I love that. It's great to have in-person classes," she said.

Taslima Akter, whose daughter is a sixth grader in the same school, hoped that the students would go back to their normal study habits as regular classes resumed.

"The school was closed for a long time. Then, when it reopened, class was held only once a week, which had no benefit to them. In fact, the students don't want to study on their own at home. They study when they have pressure from the school like classwork and exams. It's good that regular classes have resumed," she said.

The mother of an eighth grader in Dhaka Ideal Preparatory School said her son became quite inattentive to his studies as there has been no regular class.

"Once school reopened [but weren't holding classes every day], he didn't go to school even after leaving home. Instead, he played [video] games outside. I got proof after teachers informed me of the situation. He would spend time outside and return home after school hours [pretending to have attended school.]"