Education minister Dr Dipu Moni has said that the country's educational institutions will be ready to host students by September 9, before finally reopening three days later - bringing to an end what Unicef has called the world's second-longest schools closure due to Covid-19.

“Ministry officials will complete field inspections within Sep 9 to observe whether the institutions are fully prepared to open their doors for students,” she said.

“No one will be allowed entry to school and colleges without a mask after reopening. The parents will have to play a vital role in this,” she  added.

Dipu Moni was speaking to the press after an inter-ministerial meeting at the cabinet division on Sunday.

The decision to reopen all the primary, secondary and higher secondary-level educational institutions on September 12 was finalised at the meeting.

After the reopening, the SSC and HSC examinees of 2020-2021, and the students of class 5 will attend classes regularly while the students of class 1-4 and 6-9 will attend classes once a week initially, Dipu Moni further said. Eventually, all the classes will be held regularly.

Also read: UNICEF welcomes Bangladesh’s decision on reopening schools

Regarding the reopening of universities, the education minister said there will be a meeting with the syndicate committees of the universities, and those may be reopened in October as there is a vaccination issue. The fact that most university students avail communal housing in halls makes vaccination imperative in their case.

Replying to a question, Dipu Moni said the preparations to hold JSC, JDC and all the final exams will be taken in advance.

Regarding the vaccination of the under-12s, she said the decision will be taken as per the recommendation of the technical committee and in view of the availability of vaccines.

Also read: Decision on vaccinating school students soon: DGHS DG

Earlier, on August 26, the government extended the closure of secondary and higher secondary-level educational institutions until September 11.

The government shut the educational institutions on March 17, 2020 after the country reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8 and later the closure was extended several times.