IU students demand reopening of halls

A group of students of Islamic University demonstrated on the campus in Kushtia on Sunday demanding reopening of residential halls.

Around 60 students from different departments gathered at Daina Chattar area around 11am and brought out a procession chanting slogans, reports UNB.

The procession ended in front of the vice-chancellor's residence after parading through the campus. The students staged a sit-in there.

Rejecting assurances from the university's proctorial body, the protesters threatened to intensify their protest movement unless the halls are reopened.

Representatives of the students met VC professor Shaikh Abdus Salam.

He said that they cannot reopen the halls without directives from the government and the University Grants Commission.

"The government might decide to reopen the halls by March," he said, adding that, he would discuss the matter with the education ministry on Wednesday.

The students said they would continue their agitation.

Educational institutions closure extended

On 14 February, the government again extended the closure of educational institutions until 28 February to curb the spread of COVID-19.

It said the order would be effective for all educational institutions except for Qawmi madrasas.

Earlier, on 29 January, the government extended the closure until 14 February as there had been no significant improvement in the coronavirus situation in the country.

But the situation has been improving steadily in recent weeks and a countrywide vaccination drive was launched on 7 Feb.

The government shut all educational institutions on 17 March last year after the country confirmed its first COVID-19 cases on 8 March.

The closure was extended several times to protect the students from the virus infections.

Online classes will continue during this extended closure, the latest notification said.

COVID-19 situation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh saw a rise in COVID-19 related deaths and a decline in new cases in the last 24 hours until Sunday morning.

Seven coronavirus-related deaths and 327 new cases were reported. On Saturday, five deaths and 350 fresh cases were confirmed.

So far, 491,367 patients (90.43%) have recovered from COVID-19.