Schools to dust off premises by 4 Feb before reopening
Only one student would be allowed to sit on a bench and a maximum of 15 would be allowed to join a class
The government will issue letters soon, instructing education institutions from the pre-primary to secondary level to clean their premises by 4 February in preparations for reopening.
Schools and colleges will also be asked to follow the health safety guidelines issued by the World Health Organization and the health ministry, said a source at the education ministry.
Officials from the education ministry and the primary and mass education ministry made the decision in a meeting on Thursday, presided over by Education Minister Dipu Moni.
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Dipu Moni will consult Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by the end of this month and announce the date for reopening of the institutions, according to sources at the meeting.
"We have decided policy-wise to reopen the institutions in February," said State Minister for the Primary and Mass Education Ministry Md Zakir Hossain, who was present at the meeting.
Initially, students of class IV and V, class X and XII will be allowed in schools. Only one student will sit on a bench and a maximum of 15 students will be able to attend a class together.
"We have been preparing for the schools' reopening. We will issue a notice on this soon," Prof Syed Golam Faruk, director general of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, told The Business Standard.
Meanwhile, the parliamentary standing committee on the education ministry placed bills in parliament to amend the existing law to publish results of higher secondary certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations on the basis of the results of the previous two board exams. The HSC and its equivalent exams were not held last year because of the pandemic.
The Jatiya Sangsad may pass the bills next week. The education ministry will then publish the long-awaited results.
On 16 March last year, the government decided to keep all educational institutions and coaching centres shut from 18 to 31 March for the sake of students' safety from the coronavirus infection.
Later, the time was extended several times until 30 January.
The government also did not hold Primary School Certificate (PSC), Junior School Certificate (JSC), and their equivalent exams last year due to the pandemic.
The PSC and JSC examinees got auto-promotion, while HSC students will be assessed based on their JSC and SSC results. All students from the primary to secondary level will also be promoted automatically.
About 4.5 crore students from the pre-primary to higher education level are enrolled in nearly two lakh educational institutions across the country.
