Educational institutions to be reopened after 21 February: Maleque

Health minister Zahid Maleque on Saturday said all the educational institutions of the country will be reopened after 21 February as the number of daily Covid cases keep falling gradually, reports UNB.

"The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has no objection to reopening in pefr classes, but we would suggest the educational institutions to be reopened in compliance with health-safety rules," he said in a views-exchange meeting with district health officials at Gorpara Shuvro Centre in sadar upazila at noon.

The minister advised all the unvaccinated students of schools and colleges to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

"Eighty-five per cent of our target population has been vaccinated so far. So, the risk of infection and death is much lower now," he said.

"Even then, we must adhere to the health guidelines and go out wearing masks and maintaining social distance."

The instructions given to limit social activities should be followed, the minister said.

On 21 January, the government announced that all the schools and colleges of the country will remain closed from 21 January to 6 February in an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.

On 2 February, the government extended the closure of secondary and higher secondary-level educational institutions by two weeks until 20 February.

The following day, the Ministry of Education issued an 11-point directive, including resuming online classes, for schools and colleges during the closure.

It also ordered the authorities concerned to continue the vaccination programme for the student aged between 12 to 17 years following the health guidelines in coordination with the zonal offices of the directorate of secondary and higher education, district education office, upazila secondary education offices, local administrations and civil surgeons.

After a long closure due to the pandemic, the students of schools and colleges in Bangladesh returned to their classrooms on September 12 last year.

The government shut the educational institutions on 17 March, 2020, after the country reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8 and later the closure was extended several