Teachers must get vaccinated by Mar 30, says Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said teachers and officials at educational institutions in Bangladesh must be vaccinated against the coronavirus by Mar 30.

The government has decided to reopen schools and colleges on Mar 30 after a year of shutdown due to the pandemic.

The prime minister spoke at the inaugural event for the distribution of stipends, tuition fees, admission assistance and financial grants among poor and meritorious students via videoconference from Ganabhaban on Sunday.

“Schools, colleges and universities are closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. It's a challenging issue but we hope that all educational institutions will be able to reopen on Mar 30.”

"In the meantime, all the teachers and staff of educational institutions have to be vaccinated. We have already instructed the Ministry of Health to take action on that front and the vaccine will be administered to everyone.”

Students who are above the minimum age for vaccination as per the WHO guidelines will also be inoculated, according to Hasina.

All schools and educational institutions, except Kawmi madrasas, have been closed since Mar 17 last year amid the pandemic.

But with the pandemic ebbing, the government has decided reopen schools on Mar 30 while universities will resume classes on May 17.