Building a suitable environment and ensuring vaccination are among the major concerns that should be addressed before reopening educational institutions as the country has missed golden opportunity to restart in-person schooling time and again, experts have observed.
The government could have allowed reopening educational institutions in phases to evaluate the outcome, repair learning losses and take measures accordingly to address the loopholes, they said.
Public health experts and educationists keep suggesting reopening educational institutes in phases from the tertiary level as it has already been late and students are facing learning losses.
Bangladesh is among the 19 countries that did not open schools in the pandemic despite calls from educationalists, education rights groups, including UN agencies and NGOs.
“We should allow reopening universities, certainly those have residential facilities, in phases and observe closely as in-person learning has been in suspension for a long period. Students at the tertiary academic level are adults and can take care of themselves", Mushtaq Hussain, chief advisor of the Institute of epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), told FE.
We need a reorientation for the students as to how to respond to the global pandemic situation on campuses, he suggested. “We could wait for schools to reopen further as the infection rate is still high".
"We need to ensure a reliable environment for both guardians and students before reopening schools. Once we allow opening in-person schooling at the tertiary level then it could help to build a convenient environment for others. “And, once we open campuses it could be possible to continue it amid the pandemic situation,” he explained.
Online schooling, however, did not gain much success as claimed by the experts and NGOs working in the sector.
An ActionAid Bangladesh study found that 81 per cent of the children are not getting facilities for education at home amid the pandemic for multiple reasons.
According to a study conducted this April, school closure aside, unavailability of online facilities is also a common factor that is hindering child education.
Remote learning, online or TV-based education has created a huge gap between rich and poor children with no positive sign of helping millions of students.
An estimated 42 million children have become a casualty of Covid-induced school closure in Bangladesh, leaving them with little option but to rely on remote learning, according to UNICEF.
Both UNICEF and UNESCO have urged these countries to reopen schools.
Rasheda K Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi academic and former adviser to a caretaker government, recalled the UNICEF quote "Schools should be the last to close and the first to reopen."
“We missed a golden opportunity when our infection rate was below five per cent. In the last six months starting from October last year to March this year, we missed that golden opportunity to reopen schools, trial for the repair of the loss and take lessons from our learning,” she added.
But now we have to wait to reopen schools, the educationist said.
She emphasised ensuring health hygiene in schools before reopening, citing examples of improper health hygiene in schools.
She also echoed Dr Mushtaq Hussain on reopening campuses in phases in order to assess the aftermath.
“We could not reopen schools in the pandemic mainly due to lack of confidence among parents, students and teachers over maintaining the health safety issues in a manner, and could not ensure vaccination for all teachers and aged students including in all marginalised areas and groups,” she added.
Meanwhile, the education ministry in a meeting on Thursday further extended the ongoing closure for another period in the global pandemic.
Schools will be closed for in-person schooling until September 11. However, the University Grants Commission (UGC) said the public universities can reopen after October 15 upon ensuring vaccination for its students, teachers and other staffers.
Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni chaired the meeting.
The meeting said the government is prepared to reopen schools once the infection rate drops further, adding the education ministry has already directed schools and local administrations to take necessary measures to ensure health safety during the reopening of schools.
The ministry also sought suggestions from the national technical advisory committee on Covid-19 to reopen schools in the prevailing situation, asked to complete reopening plans in consultation with the health department, and directed to form committees in every school to monitor health safety issues.
