Classrooms stay empty despite reopening order

Five days after the authorities announced resuming classes, educational institutions still remain shuttered -- caught in a limbo between official orders and on-the-ground realities.
While students have won hearts as impromptu traffic cops and community guardians, educators and parents worry about the psychological toll of violent crackdown on students' anti-quota movement and the present law and order challenges to return to the classroom.
Following the unseating of the Sheikh Hasina government, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on August 5 announced the of reopening all offices, schools, colleges and universities the next day.
But the ground reality remains strikingly different.
In the absence of a school reopening bid amid chaos, many students have taken it upon themselves to manage traffic and clean up the city, earning widespread love and praise.
Others have joined neighbourhood watch groups at night amid a reported rise in robberies.
Despite the ISPR circular, teachers and parents are hesitant to send children back to school due to law and order concerns. They fear a deterioration of the situation if they leave the streets before police return to work stations.
Some teachers claim authorities are also wary of reopening schools due to the risk of politically motivated attacks, given the fact of political appointments in many educational institutions.
While English-medium schools have switched to online learning, other institutions have yet to follow such a lead either.
A teacher at an English-medium kindergarten said schools are running in limbo as they did not receive any official instructions to resume classes.
"From the media, we have learned about school reopening but have yet to receive official written instruction," she told The Financial Express over the phone.
Viqarunnisa Noon School & College teacher Jannatul Ferdous believes educational institutions, particularly at the high school level, should reopen to allow students to catch up on lost academic time.
"It is essential to resume classes and announce exams so that students can return to normal life, despite their huge contributions during this challenging time," she added.
Talking to teachers and guardians, The Financial Express also found that both groups were quite satisfied with student performance during both the quota reform movement and post-movement reform initiatives.
They admitted challenges in managing children who have experienced a traumatic ordeal during the movement. Some expressed concern about difficulties in regaining students' focus on studies.
There are also apprehensions about potential unruly behaviour from both students and teachers in certain cases.
However, Saleha Afsar, a teacher at an English-medium school, dismissed these concerns, saying students have been remarkably polite on the streets and will not misbehave when classes resume.
The principal and a teacher of Viqarunnisa Noon School & College were forced to resign on Sunday amid protests by students over the school's failure to open its gates during an attack on them during the movement.
Psychologist Roufun Nahar warned of possible issues following the resumption of classes, given the traumatic experiences of teachers, students and parents in recent weeks.
"Whatever students are doing now is voluntary, driven by a sense of responsibility in this crisis, which is common in many countries. But they have undergone a traumatic experience in the past few weeks," she said.
Advocating for counselling, Assistant Professor of the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology at Dhaka University, Roufun, urged teachers to approach students with care and love to help them return to normal life.
She added that authorities could arrange counselling for teachers and students on a case-by-case basis if necessary.

[email protected]