Are schools open on Thursday? Parents scour social media for answers amid uncertainty

Parents are taking to social media groups linked to schools to find out if the institutions are open on Thursday, given the uncertainty surrounding closures forced by a life-threatening heatwave.

The government has issued no new notice after the High Court ordered schools closed until Thursday.

Despite the High Court ordering schools shut until Thursday, the government has not issued any further updates.

Parents are expressing frustration towards the education ministry for its lack of clarity, while officials have not resolved the confusion.

Primary schools are indeed closed until Thursday amid the relentless heatwave.

After a week’s closure following lengthy Eid-ul-Fitr holidays, the education ministry has been ordering the closure of secondary-level schools and madrasas in certain districts with high temperatures.

As many as 27 districts fell under the remit of the last order for Tuesday, but no decision was made for Thursday until Wednesday night after temperatures in Chuadanga and Jashore coared to near-record 42.8 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, when schools were closed on International Workers’ Day.

Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury Nowfel said on Tuesday they would have appealed against the High Court decision, but could not because a formal copy of the order did not reach the ministry.

Bidhan Kumar Saha, headmaster of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Government Girls High School, said they would keep the institution shut on Thursday. “There’s a High Court order. And the education ministry hasn’t told us anything,” he said.

Mustafa Kamal Khosnabish, principal of Mirpur Bangla School and College, said he used a holiday reserved for the head of the institution to keep it shut on Thursday amid the uncertainty.

“We can’t play with the children’s lives,” he said.

Abdul Jabbar, headmaster of Hossen Ali High School in Nakhalpara, said: “The High Court said schools will remain shut, but the minister said he didn’t get the order. It means they want to keep schools open, but the ministry did not issue any notice today.”

“They have left us in limbo. We don’t want this. So we’ll keep the school closed.”

Abdul Karim, father of a sixth grader at Faizur Rahman Ideal Institute in Malibagh, said he discovered from a Messenger group of the school that the school will remain shut on Thursday.

“I was anxious about the issue. The ministry should have clarified things sooner rather than adding to the confusion. It's disheartening.”

Iftekhar Alam, parent of a student at Little Flower School in Mirpur, criticised the ministry's handling of the situation.

"Hundreds of thousands of children, parents, and teachers are connected to these schools. There's no justification for playing games with them. It appears the ministry intends to keep the schools open due to stubbornness, but they are too embarrassed to state it clearly," he said.