Ministry planning to reopen educational institutions

The education ministry is preparing to reopen schools, colleges and universities "as soon as possible," Cabinet Secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam said after the regular cabinet meeting on Monday.

"I talked with education ministry officials today. They have informed me that the ministry is making plans for reopening educational institutions," he said.

Responding to a query on when educational institutions would reopen, the cabinet secretary said, "The Prime Minister asked to focus on two things—improvement in the Covid-19 situation, and inoculation. Considering these two aspects, she has asked that educational institutions reopen soon."

Education ministry insiders said they were planning to reopen the universities first. Other academic institutions will be reopened later in phases.

Meanwhile, government primary schools have been asked to keep their offices open from Monday, though no instruction has been given when the classes will resume.

There are 1.5 lakh educational institutions with about 4.5 crore students from primary to higher education in the country. The students have mostly been out of their academic study programs since March 17 when educational institutions were closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The government extended the closure multiple times, now to August 31, but it has been repeatedly saying that schools and colleges will reopen only after the Covid-19 situation improves.

Regarding this, the cabinet secretary said the prime minister directed educational institutions to continue educational programmes online and digitally.

At the same time, the premier asked that educational institutions be reopened as soon as the situation improves.  She also stressed inoculating people above 18 years as soon as possible.