In-person classes to resume 22 Feb except for primary schools
Students who have taken the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, only they can attend in-person classes, she added
All educational institutions, except primary schools, will be able to resume in-person classes for fully vaccinated students from 22 February as Covid-19 infections continue to decline.
Students who are not fully vaccinated will have to attend online classes, Education Minister Dipu Moni said at a press conference at the Secretariat on Thursday.
The government's decision to reopen educational institutions came following recommendations of the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19 made at a meeting with the minister on Wednesday night.
The decision to reopen primary schools will be taken after two weeks, Dipu Moni said, adding that universities can make their own decisions regarding reopening.
Bangladesh recorded a 10.24% Covid-19 positivity rate on Thursday, maintaining a steady decline in infections.
"The rate may drop further in the next 10-14 days, and could reach a level where primary schools can also be reopened," the education minister said.
She said currently only 34 lakh students have been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, while 1.26 crore students have received their first vaccine dose.
There are around 2 lakh educational institutions in the country, from primary to higher secondary level, with 4.5 crore students and over 12 lakh teachers.
"We have asked schools, colleges and madrasas to strictly follow health guidelines. Wearing a mask and washing hands is mandatory. Our team has already started their monitoring," Dipu Moni said.
Speaking about this year's Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) examinations, she said the exams might be held in June if the virus situation improves.
"We do not know the trend of the virus. We hope that we can start the SSC and HSC exams in the middle of this year. But we cannot speak about a specific day right now," she said.
This and next year's SSC, HSC, and Primary Education Completion examination candidates will now attend classes six days a week though students will be allowed to stay at school for only four hours.
On the other hand, grade one, two, three, four, six, seven, eight and grade nine students will attend two classes a day every week.
The latest closure of all educational institutions, a second time amid the pandemic, came on 21 January to 6 February, which was later extended till 21 February this year.
