Why should universities remain closed when schools and colleges are open

The government has decided to reopen the primary, secondary and higher secondary schools from 30 March. With the permission of prime minister Sheikh Hasina inter-ministerial committee made the decision in a meeting. Education minister Dipu Moni, however said, all the educational institutions and all the classes would not be opened at a time. In primary level, the students of 5th grade will have to go to school for five days a week. In secondary level, 10th graders and in higher secondary level 12th graders will attend classes for six days. Rest of the students will attend classes for one or two days a week initially. It will extend for two days thereafter and eventually will be brought back to normality.

We welcome this decision of the government. All educational institutions in the country remained closed for almost a year due to novel coronavirus outbreak. Although the government introduced online classes, not all students were able to take part due to practical reasons. Most of the students in public universities, in particular, are deprived of taking lessons online. The officials of the Ministry of Education do not seem to be aware of their loss. The government has decided to start classes from first to 12th grade from 30 March, but has postponed the classes to 24 May at the university level. It is a gap of two months. What is the reason for keeping the lower level educational institutions open and the higher level educational institutions closed?

Needless to say, students in all classes are affected by the coronavirus outbreak. Even if the lower-grade students can make up for this loss in the next class, it will not be possible for those who are in the last stage of their education. As the exams could not be taken on time, the study period of postgraduate and undergraduate students is not only getting protracted, but also their future is becoming uncertain. In this situation, first of all, university-level examinations and classes were expected to be started quickly. But the education minister told the people the opposite. She announced that the university will open on 24 May and the dormitory will open on 17 May. As a result of the announcement, the universities that had earlier announced the schedule of undergraduate and graduate exams have been forced to back down.

Surprisingly, the education minister put forward the exact opposite arguments for not opening the universities of what she said for reopening the schools and colleges.

She said the vacation for Ramadan and Eid will be shortened. If the students of school and colleges do not have a problem in joining classes at this time, why will university-level students have any problem? Why did she announce the opening of the university after Eid?

If schools and colleges can reopen on 30 March accepting the health risks, then we do not see any problem in reopening the universities. It is not that school and college students have lower health risks than university students. And if the government delays the opening of universities and dormitories due to political fear, it would be a very sad affair. It is not acceptable to keep the university and the halls closed over fear that the campus may get heated. The dual policy of the government should be avoided in opening educational institutions. All educational institutions should open on 30 March.