Kids back to normal school life

At last the day has come, the day when fourth grader Rafi Islam will be able to open his heart to his classmates, telling them many stories he stored in his mind and playing with them in the open space of his school, which he could not do during the long-drawn Covid-led closure.

"Today, I am very happy to meet my friends. I don't want to see schools remain closed ever again," Rafi, of Mohammadpur Government Primary School, shared his joy with The Business Standard on Wednesday.

"I had to stay indoors as my parents did not allow me to go outside during my school closure days. I went through this for a long time since Covid-19 began two years ago," he went on, narrating how in between two Covid-induced closures, he got the taste of in-person classes, but for a few months when his school reopened partially in September last year.

Like him, around two crore students from 135,000 schools must have been overjoyed on the first day of normal school life after almost 714 days of being away from the classrooms. About 10 lakh teachers and employees were also very happy to return to the schools.

School staff, particularly teachers, made an extra effort to give the children a warm welcome, at the same time ensuring adherence to all Covid-safety protocols.

In view of the declining Covid cases across Bangladesh, the government on 18 February announced the resumption of in-person classes at primary schools from 2 March.

On 21 January, the government shut all educational institutions across the country for two weeks only 132 days into their partial reopening.

Md Mizanur Rahman, headteacher at Mohammadpur Government Primary School, told TBS that he felt very good after seeing all the students on the school premises. "I was always in a gloomy mood as I found a few students at a time for the last two years. Now I have got all my students back in school."

Rayhan Ahmed, headteacher at Kalikapur Govt Primary School at Sonaimuri upazila in Noakhali, said, "Today I saw students were all smiles. They hugged each other and were happy." 

"We will recover learning losses and try to bring their [students] concentration back to study," he said. 

Pritty Vowmik, a fifth grader at Sirajpur Government Primary School in Noakhali's Companiganj upazila, told TBS that her parents did not allow her to play with her friends for the last two years. I hardly attended online classes. Every moment I had to spend my time alone. It was a very disappointing time for me. 

"Today I am happy as I can play on the school premises and other places," she said, adding, "I miss some of my friends who left the school in the meantime." 

Meanwhile, with schools and universities having reopened, Education Minister Dipu Moni on Wednesday said she hoped that educational institutions would compensate students for the learning losses caused by the Covid-induced closure.

"The students have been going through mental trauma for the past two years. Now, with the educational institutions across the country reopening, efforts will be made to make up for the learning losses," she said. 

"Although it is not possible to recoup the losses in one academic year, it can be minimised. Better days are ahead," Dipu Moni told reporters on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony of the book distribution activities of classes XI and XII at National Curricula and Textbook Board headquarters on Wednesday morning.

"In-person classes for primary school students resumed on Wednesday while physical classes at all secondary, higher secondary and university-level educational institutions resumed earlier. We hope we can soon return to normal academic activities," she said.

Dipu Moni also urged the authorities concerned to make up for the teaching losses endured by those who passed this year's HSC through adequate assignments.

Describing the demand of the students of seven DU-affiliated colleges for separate universities as "illogical", she said, "The problem will be resolved soon and the authorities concerned are taking an initiative to reduce the session jam. Exam results will also be published soon."

Classes at pre-primary schools from 20 March

The primary and mass education ministry has decided to resume in-person classes for pre-primary schools after almost two years of closure due to Covid-19.

The decision to resume in-person learning was taken in light of a drop in virus infections in the country, said the Directorate of Primary Education on Wednesday.

All educational institutions were shut down after the pandemic had made inroads in the country in March 2020. Although schools at other levels have since reopened, the government decided to keep preschools closed, with classes being held online.

As a result, the experience of learning in a classroom for many students was cut short within a few months of admission.

Other children who have enrolled in pre-primary schools during the last two years are yet to attend in-person classes.

What education experts say

Dr Manzoor Ahmed, Professor Emeritus at Brac University, told TBS, "The students are already in huge learning losses. Most of them could not attend online classes. The government must shape a long-term plan to continue communications with students.

He said government and non-government organisations had to work together in this regard. "Otherwise, the nation will suffer huge losses," he added.

Professor Dr Siddiqur Rahman, former director of the Institute of Education and Research under Dhaka University, said, "We must think about these students, and the government must take an appropriate decision and formulate a strategy in this regard. I do not support the auto-promotion of students. No student should be promoted without adequate learning."

"If we fail to do this, we will face big problems in the future. The teachers will have to take more initiatives to bring students back to classes. Students will also need special care now."

Unicef's recommendations on recouping learning losses

According to Unicef, in Bangladesh, the prolonged closure of educational institutions throughout the pandemic has affected over 40 million students from the pre-primary to the higher education levels. School closures and lack of in-person teaching and learning activities have an extremely serious impact not only on children's education but also on their health, protection and psychosocial well-being.

The Unicef recommendations are targeted programmes to bring all children and youths back to schools where they can access tailored services to meet their learning, health, psychosocial well-being, and other needs, effective remedial learning to help students catch up on lost learning and support for teachers to address learning losses and incorporate digital technology into their teaching.