Guardians, pupils in hot water again over school closure

Nafia Nuzhat, a student of Motijheel Govt Girls High School said that her school was not giving assignments this time. The teachers told the students that there were no such instructions from the education ministry yet, and they will start giving assignments once instructed.

Considering the recent surge of the coronavirus infections in the country, the Cabinet Division announced on January 21 that all educational institutions will remain closed till 6 February, which was extended by another two weeks on Wednesday. 

According to Education Minister Dipu Moni's statement on Wednesday, the government has extended the closure of all educational institutes for two weeks after 6 February. “The National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19 has advised to keep educational institutions closed for a few more days,” she said.

The latest decision came amid calls from different quarters to reopen educational institutions. 

As the Omicron variant of Covid-19 continues to spread all over the world, Unicef Executive Director Henrietta Fore recently urged governments to do everything in their power to keep it from further disrupting children’s education.

Nafia told The Report that their school was taking classes through Facebook live, and the students interact with the class teacher through the comment section of the lives. “We can neglect the educational activities when it's being conducted online. Students don’t learn much through the online education system,” she said.

Guardians are getting worried about their children’s education. The guardians think students are not being able to cope up with the online education system and the schools should reopen.

Mrs Kamrunnahar’s child studies in National Ideal School of Khilgaon. She said, “Some of the teachers are trying hard to teach the students good, but most of them keep neglecting their duties in online educational activities. I think the schools should be reopened on an emergency basis”.

“Moreover, as there are no in-person activities, students lose their focus on their studies,” she added.

Bangladesh detected its first Covid patient on March 8, 2020. To curb the infection rate, educational institutions were shut down on March 17 that year and reopened after a long closure of 542 days, on September 12 last year, making it one of the world’s longest coronavirus shutdowns by then.

Experts and international organizations expressed their fear that many students would have to step out from educational activities if the closure prolonged any more. According to media reports, 15,000 schools with 25 lakh students shuttered permanently.

Mehnaz Lameesha, a university student working as a part-time home tutor said that was no competition among the students in online education. "As a result, they lose the eagerness to learn. In my opinion, schools should be reopened as soon as possible," she observed.