After 18 months of closure due to the Covid pandemic, the Bangladesh government has opened all schools in the country on September 12. The decision was made after the number of fresh Covid cases in the country plummeted drastically in the past few weeks.
To prevent a future closure, the government has made sure that all educational institutions in the country will be functioning by strictly following Covid safety protocols.
School reopening amid strict Covid safety protocols
Dipu Moni, the Education Minister of Bangladesh, has asked all educational institutions in the country to follow strict safety protocols. Students are required to sanitize and have their body temperature checked before entering campus. Those attending board examinations will be required to attend daily classes, while others will be allowed to attend schools only once or twice a week.
As the schools were reopened after a long hiatus, the opening ceremony was conducted with grandeur in some institutions and students were greeted by their teachers with flowers and sweets.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Health Minister Zahid Maleque has warned that schools will be again closed if fresh Covid cases surge among students. "If the coronavirus infection surges dangerously then we would recommend closing schools again," said Maleque.
School reopening in India still in dilemma
As the second wave of the Covid pandemic has waned in India, several Indian states are also considering resuming offline classes in schools. It has been previously reported that Delhi will restart schools in a phased manner on September 15.
While states like Punjab, Haryana, Uttarakhand, and Jharkhand have already begun classes, states like Kerala have decided to reopen colleges for final year students on October 4.
However, several medical experts believe that opening schools at a time when the country is expecting the third wave of the pandemic is absolutely a bad idea. Recently, several students and teachers in Tamil Nadu had contracted the Covid infection after schools were opened.
As the dilemma surrounding the reopening of schools continue, Mansukh Mandaviya, the Union minister of health and family welfare, has asked states to vaccinate all school teachers in India, while students are required to take at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine.
Considering the current scenario, reopening schools at this time in India may be practically impossible, as the vaccination rollout for all those aged below 18 is yet to begin on a massive scale.
