Reopening Schools: What the students are thinking

“I am feeling bad as I have heard that students of the same class will be divided into small groups to resume educational activities. I haven’t met my four best friends Farah, Trishna, Oboni and Prachi for a long time. If we get divided into groups, I won’t be able to meet and play with them,” Ananna Rahman Nova, student of class four at Engineering University Girls School and College was saying to this correspondent in a tele-conversation.

She added, “I enjoy online classes the same. But if the schools reopen, I will go to my school regularly. I have taken the necessary preparations for exam also.”

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said in parliament that she directed the concerned authorities to reopen all schools and colleges as soon as possible. She also said that the authorities were taking necessary measures in this regard.

Education Minister Dipu Moni on Friday said schools and colleges will reopen on September 12.  while talking to the journalists in an event at Chandpur.

After detecting the first Covid-19 case in the country government shut down all the educational institutions to curb the spread of coronavirus in March 18 last year. No educational institutions reopened except Qawmi Madrasa’s (the Qawmi Madrasa’s were shut down later again) since then.

Md. Ataur Rahman, father to Ananna Rahman Nova told The Report, “In my point of view, the current education system of the country almost collapsed in this two year of shutdown. To recover from this, govt should reopen educational institutions immediately considering the present situation.”

“Online education for the young students doesn’t work much as there is no in-person interaction between teacher and students. Moreover, the children now are engaged in the smartphones most of the time with the excuse of participating in online classes. In overall, this long closure harmed the young students mentally,” Ataur Rahman opines.

To ensure continuity of learning during school closures, the Ministry of Education (MoE) and Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME) implemented distance learning programmes via ‘Sangsad TV’ and on online platforms.

Reopening schools : Mixed reaction from students

Tarmin Akter Lamia, student of class 10 at Raster Hat High School in Ramgati Upazila at Lakshmipur, said that she stopped participating in online classes maybe three months ago because she learned nothing from them.

Talking to the correspondent she said, “I am feeling good now as the decision to reopen schools came. I have been out of any kind of socialisation for a long time. I could not ask any question to my teacher, have not met my friends, it was hampering me mentally.”

She also expressed a little apprehension saying that the announcement to open an educational institution has been made many times before but it has not been effective yet.

Educational institutions have remained closed across the country for almost one and a half year since the onset of the pandemic. The long closure has led to cancellation of exams and left academic calendars in disarray.

Ashikul Hasan Plabon, a student of first year at Birshreshtha Munshi Abdur Rouf Public College said, “All other activities in this country are in operation, why can’t the educational institutions run? The students have suffered with their study because of this long closure.”

“I was admitted in the college in March last year. But I could not get the fun of college and attend a single class because of the pandemic. Though the online education programme is ongoing, it does not work well. Schools and colleges should reopen as soon as possible,” he added.

Students have been writing and opened multiple groups in social media platforms demanding school reopen immediately.

After the decision to reopen schools and colleges came, a student in such a group opened a poll asking if the students thought that the authorities would stick to the decision to reopen the schools. 301 People voted to the ‘no’ option and 78 people voted to the ‘yes’ option as of the last time while this report was being written.

A student named Akmal Hossain wrote in Facebook expressing his distrust to the decision of the concerned authorities regarding the reopening of schools and colleges, “There may be Alpha, beta, gamma variants discovered again within ten days.”

After the shutdown of the educational institutions, the government extended the closure multiple times. Concerned authorities had repeatedly said that the schools and colleges will reopen only after the Covid-19 situation improves.