Bangladesh extends primary school shutdown in pandemic to May 22

After deferring the reopening of high schools and colleges, the government has extended the shutdown in primary schools and kindergartens to May 22 as the coronavirus pandemic has continued to rage on.

The primary and mass education ministry in a notice on Sunday said that the pupils will remain at home in this period and join online classes to protect themselves from infection.

It asked the parents and the local authorities to ensure that the students stay at home.

The education ministry last week deferred the reopening of the secondary and higher secondary institutions to May 23 from Mar 30, a year after the shutdown began, amid a resurgence of infection.

The government cancelled the PEC tests for fifth graders, JSC tests for the eighth graders and annuals exams of other grades last year due to the pandemic while HSC results were published by averaging the scores of JSC and SSC tests.