The Bangladesh authorities will observe the COVID-19 situation until March next year to take a decision on the full reopening of schools as the omicron variant is spreading fast in most of the world.
“Bangladesh is yet to take a final decision over omicron. The variant is spreading fast in America and Europe. We expect to make a decision over the new COVID-19 variant in March,” Education Minister Dipu Moni said on Thursday, reports bdnews24.com.
Most of the students have been attending in-person classes in turns to ensure physical distancing since Sept 12 this year after the number of COVID-19 cases decreased in Bangladesh. But the restrictions are getting stricter in parts of the world with worries mounting over the fast-spreading new coronavirus variant.
Speaking to the media while visiting a printing press in Dhaka's Matuail on Thursday to inspect the preparations for the delivery of free textbooks on New Year’s Day, the education minister expressed her concerns over the omicron and urged people to avoid gatherings. Bangladesh has detected two cases of the variant in women cricketers upon their return from Zimbabwe.
Dipu Moni said the distribution of the textbooks among all the students on the first day of the next year is still uncertain, adding she is confident the process will be completed within the first week of January.
The celebrations of the textbook distribution, known as the textbook festival, will not be possible due to the pandemic, she said. Bangladesh reported 382 new COVID-19 cases, a slight increase from the previous day, in the latest daily count.
“We are not in a situation to celebrate the occasion this year. The schools will distribute the textbooks among the students in their classes separately following the health safety rules,” Dipu Moni said.
In the past 12 years, the Awami League government distributed more than 4.01 billion textbooks to the students of primary and secondary levels for free.
The delivery of free textbooks to students of schools and colleges on New Year’s Day has been thrown into ‘uncertainty’ this time with the authorities and the printing presses blaming each other for a delay in calling tender.
The printers said the National Curriculum and Textbook Board or NCTB had delayed the floating of tender and repeated the process, which left them with very little time to finish their job.
NCTB officials acknowledged the delay in the tender process, but said the printing presses raised the costs through syndication, forcing the authorities to call the tender again.