Bangladesh finalises plans to reopen schools, colleges on Sept 12

The Bangladesh government has finalised plans to reopen educational institutions across the country on Sept 12 after a shutdown for a year and a half due to the COVID-19 pandemic, says Education Minister Dipu Moni.

But not all educational institutions will be holding daily in-person classes. Students from Class 1 to Class 4 and Class 6 to Class 9 will initially have in-person classes once a week.

Class 5, SSC and HSC examinees, however, will return to regular class hours. No one will be allowed to enter any educational institution without a mask.

These decisions were taken after a meeting on Sunday, the education minister said.

Educational institutions across the country have been shut since Mar 17 last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. The government announced efforts to reopen them several times, but were forced to backtrack and further extend the shutdown due to spikes in COVID cases.

But Education Minister Dipu Moni announced recently that the government was considering reopening schools and colleges from Sept 12 as the number of new coronavirus cases starts to dip.

Initially, most students would only go to school once a week, Deputy Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury had said in response to questions from the media on Saturday.